Newly appointed BBC Top Gear presenter Chris Harris is to race in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup for Team Parker Bentley this year, starting at this weekend’s Monza season opener.

Harris, who has numerous Nurburgring 24 and historic racing appearances to his name, will team up with Carrera Cup GB regulars Chris Cooper and Derek Pierce in the squad’s Am Cup entry (below).

The former Evo magazine writer and YouTube regular said: “This is a bit of a pinch-yourself moment. If, last year, you’d asked me what my dream 2016 race season would be, it would have involved a Bentley Continental GT3, Stuart Parker and my good friend and long-time team-mate Chris Cooper. And now it’s happened!

“I saw an early car being built two years ago and ever since then I’ve wanted to drive one,” he added. “That I get to do it with Team Parker, a team I’ve had many successes with in the past, is fantastic news. The GT3 category is the most interesting, varied form of circuit racing out there and I think that with Chris and Derek we have a very good team to attack the Am championship. I just need to remember that the big oversteer is for the Top Gear cameras, not the race track.”

Bentley motorsport director Brian Gush commented: “It’s great to have Chris driving with Bentley this season. He’s a very experienced and accomplished driver and has impressed the team in his recent test sessions. We have entries in all three of the Blancpain Endurance Cup classes, all of which have a good chance of winning.”

Team Parker’s other car is entered in the Pro-Am Cup, with Tom Onslow-Cole, Callum MacLeod and Ian Loggie on board. Click here for DSC’s full run-down of the grid.