Montreal, Quebec - Canadian Alex Tagliani will team up once again with Montreal driver Jean-Frédéric Laberge on March 9 and 10, but this time the Tagliani-Laberge tandem will be driving an AMG factory-backed Team Zakspeed 2016 Mercedes AMG GT3 in the pre-season test session at Circuit Paul Ricard located in the south of France. The 5.861-km Castelet is a grade 1 FIA homologated road course. Circuit Paul Ricard hosted 15 Formula 1 Grands Prix between 1971 and 1990. The two drivers are scheduled to depart for Europe on March 5.

Established in 1968 by Erich Zakowski as a saloon and sports car racing team, Team Zakspeed competed in Formula 1 from 1973 to 1981 before returning to touring racing. Zakspeed, which is now run by his son Peter, switched to Mercedes in 2014. The new 2016 Mercedes AMG, powered by a V8 front mid-engine, transmit its 640 horsepower to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential transmission in transaxle configuration with multi-disc, limited-slip differential and traction control.

"We are very proud and excited to have Alex and Jeff with our team this year," Peter Zakowski said. "They seem to be a very good fit together and to be successful in endurance racing, drivers need to have good chemistry and speed obviously. Jeff is a very quick driver, and he is experienced in GT racing and Alex is very quick in whatever kind of racecar he drives. We are pleased to have these drivers coming over to Zakspeed and we are looking for a long-term relationship with them driving the Mercedes AMG GT3 for Zakspeed."

Following a first experience as teammates at the Dubai 24 Hours, Round 1 of the 24H International Endurance Series last January 15-16, the two Canadian drivers, who were impressive in the early part of the race, have decided to pursue their driving partnership in the 2016 European Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. Following the pre-season test, the five-race endurance championship will open its 2016 season at the 3-hour endurance race in Monza, Italy on April 24, followed by another 3-hour race at Silverstone, Great Britain on May 5. Round 3 will be held June 24-25 at the 1000-km Endurance at Paul Ricard. The series major event of the season, the 24 Hours of Spa in Belgium, will run July 30-31. The final 3-hour race of the 2016 season will be held September 18 in Zakspeed's own backyard at Nürburgring, Germany.

"I am thrilled to work with Zakspeed on the development of the new Mercedes AMG GT3," Tagliani said. "This is quite a challenge for me, and we hope to establish a long working relationship with the German team. My experience with J-F at Dubai was conclusive. We use the same type of settings, we are the same size and so we will save time during pit stops since we won't have to change the seat. The only things we will keep to ourselves are our driver suits. Jean-Frédéric is a fast driver and his long experience driving Porsches is an asset. The 2016 season will be a learning curve with a new car and five tracks to discover, but we're prepared for whatever happens during the course of the season."

Tag's teammate is also very enthusiastic about this new European experience. "Driving for a top team in one of the most prestigious European GT series where major car manufacturers compete for top honours, is quite fascinating," said Laberge. "Teaming up with Alex is the natural thing to do. Alex impressed everyone in Dubai with his speed and his car control on a track where close to 100 cars were looking to improve their class position on track in the first segment of the endurance race. His racing experience on many race tracks in the NASCAR, IndyCar as well as Touring and Endurance series will be an asset for our team."

Along with his European program, Tagliani will drive his EpiPen Chevrolet in most of the 12-race NASCAR Pinty's Canadian Series scheduled to start its 2016 season on May 22 at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario.

About Blancpain

Founded in 1735 by Jean-Jacques Blancpain, the watch bearing his name is the oldest brand in the world. Fans can discover more on the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup on the series website at: http://www.blancpain-gt-series.com/endurance/