Alex Buncombe will make his Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli debut, having been confirmed in KCMG’s No. 35 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 for this weekend’s California 8 Hours.

The former Nissan factory driver will team up with Josh Burdon and 2015 Blancpain GT Series championship-winning co-driver Katsumasa Chiyo in the GT3 contender, replacing Tsugio Matsuda in the lineup for the second round of the season.

Buncombe is fresh off his maiden outing with the Hong Kong-based team in last weekend’s VLN season-opener.

“The opportunity will reunite me with my old teammate Katsumasa Chiyo and I’m looking forward to sharing the car with Josh Burdon also,” Buncombe said.

“The team showed excellent pace at the opening round of the IGTC in Bathurst so I’m hoping we can carry this speed into Laguna and challenge for a strong result.”

KCMG’s No. 18 Nissan heads into the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca round with the unchanged lineup of Oliver Jarvis, Alexandre Imperatori and Edoardo Liberati, which were in contention for a podium finish in last month’s season-opener at Bathurst.

A total of 20 cars, featuring 16 GT3 entries, are expected for this weekend’s IGTC round, although an official entry list has yet to be released.