V8 Supercar ace Scott McLaughlin will partner Stephen Grove in next month’s Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Pro-Am endurance round at Phillip Island.

The popular Kiwi is scheduled to participate in both 60 minute races as the Carrera Cup Australia category makes its maiden venture onto the Shannons Australian Motor Racing Nationals bill.

McLaughlin has taken the V8 Supercar world by storm in recent times following a number of spectacular performances for Volvo Polestar Racing in the early rounds of 2014. The 20 year-old’s laid-back demeanour and thrilling driving style is fast securing the allegiance of many thousands of motorsport fans around the world.

McLaughlin has assembled an impressive touring car resume having claimed the V8 Supercars Development Series and the V8 SuperTourers Championship in 2012 before making a fruitful transition into the V8 Supercar main-game last year. The Melbourne-based driver is eagerly anticipating the opportunity to sample sports car racing at one of Australia’s most iconic circuits.

“The Carrera Cup looks great. The cars are fantastic but they look very complex,” said McLaughlin. “I’m looking forward to having a crack in Stephen’s weapon during the race weekend!

“I love Phillip Island. It’s fast and flowing and has awesome scenery which is an added bonus – not that you get time to look at it! I believe we have a great shot at winning and after talking about it for a long time; I’m very excited to be teaming up with Stephen for the race. He has been fast and I’m looking forward to seeing how we go!”

Fresh off attaining an elite class podium at Albert Park last month, Stephen Grove is hoping to benefit from the opportunity to work with one of Australasia’s brightest motorsport talents.

“Scotty is a professional driver and he will bring a professional approach, the ability to get the best out of the car and will be able to help me to further develop my driving,” explained Grove. “I feel that it is important to race and work with as many different professional drivers as possible, especially the calibre of Scott and Earl [Bamber] to learn from and help develop my racing.”

Despite having carved his career in low-downforce touring cars, Grove expects McLaughlin to quickly find his feet in the agile Carrera Cup machine.

“Scotty will come up to speed very quickly in the 991. The main difference he will experience is the grip that the new Porsche has which results in faster entry into, and exits out of corners. The window of setup in the new Type 991 is small and therefore I would think that we will have a pretty neutral setup between both drivers.”

Scott McLaughlin and Stephen Grove will have the opportunity to tailor the new Porsche 991 GT3 Cup machine to the flowing Phillip Island layout during a test session on the 17th of April. Slightly over a month later, the Carrera Cup Pro-Am round will be contested over a three day period commencing on Friday the 23rd of May.