2015 Le Mans 24 Hours winner and factory Porsche pilot Earl Bamber will return to the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in 2016, Melbourne-based Porsche team Grove Racing confirming he will team with Porsche Carrera Cup racer Stephen Grove and V8 Supercars star Scott McLaughlin in a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Car entry.
The trio offer a formidable challenge for rivals in the hotly contested class B – run solely for Porsche’s numerous and successful GT3 Cup Cars – with the Grove team having already scored three podiums from three starts in Bathurst’s summer classic.
Bamber, 25, teamed with Formula 1 driver Niko Hulkenberg and Nick Tandy to win this year’s LeMans endurance classic driving a Porsche 919 Hybrid, finishing one-lap ahead of eventual world champions Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley.
In recent years Bamber has become one of Porsche’s top factory pilots, having won the 2013 and 2014 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia championships, the 2014 Porsche Supercup crown and also scoring a host of strong results in the United Sportscar Championship in the USA and in the World Endurance Championship driving a Porsche 911 RSR.
The 2016 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 hour will mark Bamber’s second attempt at the race, having teamed with Grove and Brit Ben Barker to win Class B in 2014.
Having missed the 2015 race, next February will in essence offer an opportunity for Bamber to defend his 2014 Class B victory on the Mountain.
“I can’t wait to go back to the Bathurst 12 Hour,” he said.
“I wanted to do this race last year but unfortunately I couldn’t with my schedule. In 2014 with the Grove team we managed to take the class victory, so I have very fond memories of the track – it’s an amazing place and also amazing to drive a Porsche there. I’m really, really looking forward to being back.”
The highly credentialed Kiwi brushed aside expected comments questioning his decision to compete for a class victory rather than an outright race victory.
Although still very competitive, the strength of the outright GT3 vehicles that now fill a majority of the field ensures a strong finish for a Class B car means running just inside the top 20 outright.
However, Bamber says he has no problems suiting up with his friends from the experienced Grove Racing camp and that his loyalty to the outfit runs deep.
“Some people might ask ‘why do I drive a cup car there instead of a full spec GT3’, and I remember back in 2013 – when I just started racing in Porsche’s – that Steve was the guy who gave me a chance to come to Australia and he gave me the first chance to drive at Bathurst.
“I said ‘when I’m available you know if you want me to come drive, you’ve got the first option’, so it’s really, really nice to be back with Steve and the whole team.
“Coming from LeMans this year, and winning it, helps me prepare for Bathurst and my full time job now is doing endurance racing,” Bamber added.
“I’m looking forward to be teamed up with Scotty, I remember him from go-karting and I’ve been watching him in the V8 supercars and he’s done a fantastic job.”
Team owner / driver Stephen Grove, the 2014 Porsche Carrera Cup ‘Challenge Class’ winner and Bathurst 12 Hour class B victor, said he was excited to unite Bamber and McLaughlin alongside him in an effort to gain revenge for their narrow class loss in the 2015 race.
“To team up with Scotty McLaughlin who has an enormous amount of experience in V8 Supercars, and we’ve done some racing with in recent years, will be great. To race with Earl Bamber and to team up with a LeMans winning driver again will be awesome,” Grove said.
“The team has been there three years in a row and we’ve always been on the podium. We’re using the same crew we’ve used in the last three years in a car that’s been very reliable for us.
“To get the team back together for this event is very exciting.”
Grove Racing finished second in Class B and 17th outright in the 2015 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour: Grove, Luke Youlden and Ben Barker finishing agonisingly close behind the winning Porsche 997 GT3 Cup driven by Canberra brothers James & Theo Koundouris, Marcus Marshall and Sam Power.
The team won the race in 2014 and also finished second on their debut in 2013.
McLaughlin is the fourth full-time V8 Supercars driver to confirm their 2016 Liqui-Moly Bathurst participation, Tim Slade (Objective Racing McLaren), Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander (Jamec Pem Audi) having already secured drives.
