Craig Baird will join Erebus Motorsport’s line-up for the second round of the Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli at the Clipsal 500 next weekend.

This will be the first time the flying Kiwi has had the opportunity to take to the wheel of the AMG Customer Sports SLS GT3 Gullwing and continues his association with the former Stone Brothers Racing team, with whom he raced the 2012 V8 Supercar endurance races.

With Baird stepping into the #63 SLS AMG GT3, Peter Hackett will be on the sidelines for the Clipsal 500 event, however – contrary to reports in some places – Hackett is not permanently out of the seat – having been offered a commercial solution.

“Peter was our foundation driver and remains a strong part of the Erebus Motorsport family,” said Erebus Motorsport CEO, Ryan Maddison. “There may be opportunities for us to work together in the future, which we can explore as they come to hand.

“Peter has many commitments with the Mercedes-Benz and AMG brands around the world through it’s benchmark Mercedes-Benz Driver Academy.”

Maddison added that with the advent of Erebus Motorsport’s V8 Supercar program – the decision to draft in Baird was based on performance and commercial outcomes.

“Without doubt, Craig is one of the best GT drivers in the world,” he added. “The weekend is massive for Erebus Motorsport with the beginning of the AMG journey in V8 Supercars with Tim Slade, Lee Holdsworth and Maro Engel.

“Every single one of our sponsors will be at Clipsal and the GT program is totally complementary to the V8 Supercars program. Having Craig on board will allow us to further expose what Erebus Motorsport is about and we welcome him to the team.”

After finishing behind Erebus Motorsport SLS AMG GT3s at the last two Bathurst 12 Hours, Baird is looking forward to having the opportunity to step behind the wheel.

“Racing against both these cars at the Bathurst 12 Hour was incredibly tough – for the last two years Erebus Motorsport has finished in front of me,” said Baird – who raced for Asian team, Clearwater Racing. “Now to drive one of Erebus Motorsport’s SLS AMG GT3 on my own, at a challenging track like Adelaide is very exciting.”

The Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli will conduct two races – a one hour twilight race on Saturday for the Murray Walker Trophy and Sunday’s sprint half hour race.