KEY POINTS:
Earl Bamber was back on the top step of the podium at the conclusion of the second of three Toyota Racing Series races at the A1GP carnival at Taupo yesterday.
In a positive step forward for the International Motorsport-run TradeZone-backed A1 Team.NZL Junior Development Team, teammate Mitch Cunningham also enjoyed a good race, eventually finishing seventh overall.
Bamber won the 10 lap race by just over two seconds from fellow young gun Michael Burdett and points leader Andy Knight after a copybook move from fourth to second round the first corner before inheriting a lead he would never lose when early leader Ben Harford spun.
Cunningham didn't get the best of starts but made up most of the places he lost on the first lap then chipped away at the cars in front until he was in seventh place, crossing the finish line closing in on sixth-placed Nelson Hartley.
The win was Earl Bamber's third this season, continuing the form that saw the 17-year-old win the recent Lady Wigram Trophy feature race.
"It's certainly not easy to pass anyone round here," said Bamber, "but I managed to get around the outside of Andy and Michael through the first corner so then it was just a matter of tucking in behind Ben and seeing what a bit of pressure would do.
"He actually pulled a bit of a gap at the restart (after the safety car was deployed to pick up Matt Halliday's stricken car) but I was able to catch him back up and when he saw I was there he started getting pretty loose then spun when he nailed the throttle out of Turn 6."
