Motorsport: Kiwis Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley at the forefront of World Endurance Championship

Earl Bamber. Photo / Photosport

Two New Zealanders will be at the forefront of the opening round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) at Sebring, Florida this weekend.

Two-time Le Mans 24 winner Earl Bamber will be piloting a Cadillac V-Series.R and Three-time Le mans 24 Hour winner and WEC champion Brendon Hartley will be in a Toyota GR010, both contesting the Hypercar category.

Bamber last raced a full WEC series in 2017 with the Porsche LMP team, winning alongside Timo Bernhard and Hartley. This year he’s relishing the idea of racing the Cadillac out of the Chip Ganassi Racing stable.

“It was great how I got to drive for Ganassi as they phoned me up and asked if I wanted to race with them,” Bamber told the Herald from Sebring.

“We’ve been working hard with the car for the past 18 months and getting through the 24 Hours [Daytona] was really great for us. Now we head to the first race of the WEC, which is great, but we still have a lot of stuff to learn.

“There’s work to do with WEC rule sets, but we’re definitely coming along and the car’s got great pace. The engine’s very good and the Dallara chassis is working well, so we now just have to prove it on track.

“It’s been really big to be able to give input to the development of the car. To be honest though, we’re just at the beginning of the journey. There’s a lot do yet and the main focus is on winning Le Mans.”

Sebring is notorious for its rough and bumpy surface and mix of tarmac and concrete surfaces, which will make it hard to manage tyre wear. There is also the mix of fast and slow corners as well long straights to keep the drivers and mechanics on their toes.

“I like the track and we won here last year [Sebring 12 Hour]. It suits my and my teammates driving style and the Cadillac goes well here,” said Bamber.

“Honestly though, it’s going to be a massive challenge to win again and this year we’re the underdogs I’d say.

“Let’s just see how it goes and I’m very much enjoying the challenge.”

The manufacturer interest in WEC continues to grow with Cadillac, Ferrari, Porsche and Vanwell joining Toyota, Peugeot and Glickenhaus on the grid this season. The advent of the Le Mans Hypercar category means cars can contest a number of different championships including the Le Mans 24 Hour.

“They’ve have down a really good job as all the cars work in a very narrow power window and a small downforce window. You saw at Daytona everyone was pretty close and we’ll see the same here,” said Bamber.

“The new rules with more power and less downforce allow more manufacturers to come in at a lower cost and put on a good show with 11 to 12 cars on the grid.

“Cadillac wants to challenge itself against the best teams in the world and you’ve now got that on the grid; Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche and all the others and that’s why they’ve all got their eyes on the top category and winning Le Mans, and I can’t wait to get back there.”

The prologue last weekend went well for Bamber and his co-drivers setting the third fastest time behind the two Toyotas with Hartley (and co-drivers Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa) sitting on top.