Motorsport: Bamber on track for trifecta

Earl Bamber racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia championship. Photos / Supplied

Earl Bamber is hoping to take another step towards his triple crown of international wins in Shanghai this weekend.

The 24-year-old from Whanganui has been racing Porsche GT Cup cars this season and clinched the Porsche Supercup rookie of the year in Monaco at the beginning of the season.

Tomorrow Bamber hopes to wrap up the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia championship, the second leg of his trifecta. He has the chance to complete the set at the last round of the Supercup in Austin, Texas, from November 1. He leads both championships heading into their final round.

"It's going to be a long weekend as there are 41 points up for grabs [Carrera Cup Asia]," said Bamber from his base in Malaysia. "I'm feeling confident but my lead is only 21 points in the championship so I can't afford to sit back too much and nor can I be too keen and throw it all away."

In one-make championships, the cars are pretty much the same so no one has a handling or horsepower advantage. Consequently, the racing is close. For a driver qualifying is all about getting pole.

"It's always good to start a race on the front row with nothing but an empty track in front of you. Starting with clear air in front means you can concentrate on driving as quickly as you can, and not have to worry about trying to get past someone in front, or get tangled up in a midfield problem where you can be hit by someone trying too hard."

Successful racing drivers want to win every time they go out. Bamber knows there is a bigger picture over the weekend - winning the championship.

"It's matter of being able to finish the races and keep collecting the points. You don't want to get caught up in someone else's mess so starting up front is good. We've been fast all year so we'll just keep doing what we've been doing all year without changing anything.

Earl Bamber celebrates his Carrera Cup victory.

"We don't have to win the races to win the championship. We just have to bag the points and running in the top three will do that."

Porsche decision makers like the cut of the young fellow's jib and have placed him in a works 911 RSR. He recently raced at the Le Petit Le Mans 10-hour endurance event at Austin where he and his co-drivers finished third in class. That helped Porsche win the manufacturers' title in the American United Sportscar Series.

If he does manage to win these two championships, the new head of the Porsche GT Motorsport Programme and GT Production Sports Cars, Frank-Steffen Walliser, might be interested in a chat.

Munro in with a chance
Another young Kiwi could come away Shanghai with a national championship. James Munro has been the standout performer in the Formula Masters China series.

Similar to Bamber, the 17-year-old Munro has topped the points table from the get-go. Matthew Solomon (Hong Kong) has capitalised on the Kiwi's recent bad luck.

"The points are a lot closer than I'd like," said Munro. " My lead has narrowed to six points largely due to two non-scoring races in Zhuhai [last time out].

"This will make it tougher than it should, considering I've won seven races so far this year. It'll be an opportunity to learn about coping with pressure in a close championship fight."