Motorsport: Co-driver delights Dowsett

Reigning Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup champion Graeme Dowsett is itching to get racing at Malaysia's Sepang track. Photo / Edd Ellison

Defending Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup champion Graeme Dowsett is back in action this weekend at the Sepang International Circuit. He won't have regular co-driver John Curran with him, however that won't be too much of a problem.

Stepping in to share driver duties at Team NZ Motorsport in the No77 Porsche 997 GT3 is the capable Nick Foster, who is no stranger to the team. The 25-year-old joined the team for the Bathurst 12 Hour in February to replace the injured Dowsett and, overcoming setbacks, he and Curran crossed the line third.

The 2015 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia champion is now plying his trade in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) for Gulf Racing and Dowsett is chuffed the Australian has found time to go racing in Malaysia.

"Nick won Carrera Cup back in 2015 so he's awesome to have on board," said Dowsett. "He fits into the team very well having raced with us before.

"He's quick, and having been racing in the WEC recently will be ready to go over the weekend."

Dowsett and his team won the inaugural Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup championship in 2016 despite getting off to a rocky start in the series. It took the the pair right up to last race of the series to clinch the title during that campaign. This year, however, has been quite different with Dowsett and Curran winning the opening two races in May and they now sit atop the points table.

"Last year was a bit of a tough one but we managed to win the championship. This year we've had a better start, winning the two races and so far so good. The big thing this weekend will be the weather, which can change so quickly, and how fast we all can adapt to it.

"It's been pretty wet so far. The circuit is amazing with a lot of technical elements, but it's still a fast track with high grip levels. It's quite forgiving though, with lots of run-offs," said Dowsett.

Dowsett has always been at pains to thank two talented racecar drivers for the help and mentoring he has received from them. You don't get much better help when racing a Porsche than from two-time Le Mans 24 Hour winner Earl Bamber and his brother Will, who both are based in Asia.

This weekend though, team manager Will won't be leaning on the pit wall as he's actually racing. Bamber followed in his older brother Earl's footstep and has been contesting the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (PCCA) championship and is racing at the same track this weekend as well.

After two wins at the Bangsaen, Thailand Grand Prix last month Bamber is leading the PCCA with fellow Kiwi Chris van der Drift in third.

"We've had some great support from Will and Earl Bamber. In fact, Earl was my driver coach going back about five years now. Team NZ started back with karting and then progressed to Porsches and now Earl has gone on to greater heights.

"Will, the younger brother, is still racing with us and is a big help from the technical and team running side of things. It's a shame he's not here as part of our team this weekend, but he's got his own race to run.

"We owe a lot of our success to those two especially from a technical and engineering perspective. They both help out with technical advice and setups, especially Earl, from the factory," said Dowsett.

Foster and Dowsett are looking forward to racing and are keen to prove their opening two wins weren't a flash in the pan.

"The victories didn't come easy though and we enjoyed some great tussles during both races with PAS Macau Racing, which fielded a similar Porsche 997 GT3 to ours.

"We look forward to resuming battle with them this weekend and we will be doing everything we can to defend our lead in the series and try to build on it," said Dowsett.