Rising Kiwi star showcases his talents on the world stage Earl Bamber is looking in top form after winning the first round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia in Malaysia.
Rising Kiwi star showcases his talents on the world stage Earl Bamber is looking in top form after winning the first round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia in Malaysia.
Earl Bamber looks like a good bet to take over the mantle of the world's best Porsche driver from fellow Kiwi Craig Baird.
The 23-year-old is the defending Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (PCCA) champion and last year won a Porsche Motorsport scholarship to race in the Porsche Super Cup.
Bamber heads to the China Formula One Grand Prix this weekend for round two of the PCCA already having put the rest of the field to the sword at the opening round in Malaysia.
He crossed the line a comfortable three seconds ahead of his main challenger from last year, Austrian Martin Ragginger, with Alexandre Imperatori in third.
"It was a challenge to hold off Martin [Ragginger] at the start, but by lap six we could pull away a bit," said Bamber. "It was just a matter of keeping my eyes forward, even though there was a big glaring gold car behind me. It's going to be close all year. I've had a bit more testing, but the others for sure are going to catch up."
Bamber was straight on a plane after the Malaysian race for official testing of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany at the Hockenheimring Circuit. He continued to showcase his talent setting the second and third fastest time during the sessions.
Earl Bamber
Bamber, who will be competing in a full season of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup championship as a support class to the European rounds of the F1 series, will also compete in selected Porsche Carrera Cup Germany races.
He tested for the Fach Auto Tech team (Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup) and Team 75 Motorsport (Porsche Carrera Cup Germany) where he posted the second and third fastest times respectively.
"It was a great two days of driving and was nice to work with Team 75 Motorsport for the first time while getting to know the team and the guys," he said. "We had a really productive testing session, especially by working with two cars and we definitely got through a lot.
"It was also great to see both cars clocking in almost identical times and this is a true testament to Porsche and how equal all the cars are in both championships.
"I think it is the first time in my career that I managed to beat myself in a test day, which is sort of odd and funny while at the same time it allowed me to push myself harder."
Heading to Shanghai holds no trepidation for Bamber and his team as this time last year he was celebrating his first title.
"Last year we did four rounds in Shanghai and I came in second in round two," he said. "It was also in Shanghai I was crowned as the PCCA champion after winning round 11. So it will be great to be back there and I hope to repeat the success I had there last year."
On another note, former Toyota Racing Series graduate Alif Hamdan sits on top of the Class B category for non-professional drivers. An intense pre-season training programme paid dividends with the young Malaysian storming to an impressive class victory and crossing the line eighth overall.
As the drivers gain confidence in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 991) car, which is a considerable improvement on previous models, lap times in Shanghai are expected to be significantly quicker than in 2013.
