24h Le Mans
In just twelve short months, 24-year-old Earl Bamber has moved on from Porsche's brand trophy series to victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
For this New Zealander, who began in karting in 2004, the first critical step was beating all other aspirants from the worldwide make cups to win the junior selection shootout. In a comprehensive selection process, the eight candidates had to not only turn fast laps but also demonstrate their technical understanding and analytical skills in setting up the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. And no one did this better than the newly-crowned winner of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia from Down Under.
As a reward, Porsche gave him 200,000 Euros and the chance to prove himself in the international Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup for the 2014 season. And in the flagship series of Porsche’s one-make cups run as support to Formula 1 races, Earl Bamber shone again. As a Porsche Junior, he won the season-opener on the Circuit de Catalunya on the outskirts of Barcelona, and collected victory number two on the demanding Ardennes circuit of Spa-Francorchamps. At the end of the season he was crowned champion. In the Carrera Cup Asia he scored eight victories and ten podium spots to take home the title for the second time, and also added two race wins in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. To top off his banner season, he climbed into the cockpit of the Porsche 911 RSR for the first time and promptly pocketed second place at Petit Le Mans on Road Atlanta, one of America’s long-distance classics.
Things continued at this pace. For 2015, he was signed on as a works driver and, after successful tests in the Porsche 919 Hybrid, quickly stepped up into the LMP1 programme. After Spa-Francorchamps, Le Mans was only his second race in the premier class of endurance sport.
Read the previous episode in our series of 45 stories about Porsche at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO
(From a Porsche Motorsport press release)
Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DE LA SARTHE, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, WEDNESDAY 10 JUNE 2015, FREE PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING. Earl Bamber (front left) and Nico Hülkenberg (in the background) went home victorious after their first 24 Hours of Le Mans.
