By alley - Nov 23, 2016, 12:32 PM ET

GT: Parente joins K-PAX line-up for Sepang 12 Hours

Entering into its first endurance event, K-PAX Racing has announced its all-factory driver lineup for the Motul Sepang 12 Hours. Alvaro Parente, Shane van Gisbergen, and Côme Ledogar will pilot the McLaren 650S GT3 in the December 11 race.

"This will be a great way to close out an already phenomenal year for us," said program manager Darren Law, a month after the

team announced its event participation

. "Alvaro and the team worked so well together this year in the Pirelli World Challenge Series and to have McLaren GT factory teammates Shane van Gisbergen and Côme Ledogar joining us will give us a very strong driver line up. Everyone at McLaren GT has been a huge help in supporting us and we are looking forward to not only racing some of the best GT3 teams in the world but also being the only American team competing in this event."

Parente, who joined McLaren GT as a factory driver in 2011, won six races to clinch the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge championship, earning K-PAX Racing top team honors, and McLaren GT the manufacturer title.

"It will be great to be back racing with K-PAX, and in a completely different type of race, as it is 12 hours long with pit stops and a demanding strategy," Parente said. "It's a very challenging and technical race track and super hot and humid, which will be tough both physically and mentally."

After an impressive 2014 season in V8 Supercars, New Zealand racer Shane van Gisbergen joined the McLaren GT ranks in 2015, earning two wins in his four races with Von Ryan Racing in the Blancpain Endurance Series. For the 2016 season, he joined Garage 59, in which the team clinched the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. At the Bathurst 12 Hours, van Gisbergen set a track record at Mount Panorama circuit during qualifying to take pole position. He and co-drivers Alvaro Parente and Jonathon Webb went on to take victory with the 650S GT3 for Tekno Autosports at the event. Last weekend, his impressive season performance continued, with van Gisbergen clinching top championship honors in the 2016 Pirtek Endurance Cup.

"[Sepang] also forms the final round of the inaugural Intercontinental GT Challenge, said McLaren GT managing director Andrew Kirkaldy. "Following the victory at the Bathurst 12 Hours and points scored at the Total 24 Hours of Spa, Shane is still in the chase for yet more silverware to crown an incredibly strong season."

After a strong career in Porsche Cup Italy and Porsche Cup France, Frenchman Côme Ledogar joined the McLaren GT ranks in 2016, racing alongside van Gisbergen and Rob Bell in the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren 650S GT3. In addition to the Blancpain series, Ledogar also ran successful campaigns in the International GT Open and the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia.

"It has been the strongest year to-date for McLaren in GT racing, with the 650S GT3 securing nine championships across the world, including a clean sweep by K-PAX Racing in the Pirelli World Challenge," Kirkaldy said. "It is great to see the team take on the challenge of the Motul Sepang 12 Hours, which is the first endurance race for the team, and it is also one of the most demanding. The line-up they have put together, with Come, Alvaro and Shane, is extremely experienced in global endurance racing and shows the level of commitment and determination the team has towards this race."