THERE probably isn't a farm-raised kid around New Zealand who hasn't learned to drive a vehicle while sitting on his father's knee. Call it a Kiwi rite of passage ...
That was the way Earl Bamber learned to control a vehicle - on the family farm at Jerusalem on the Whanganui River when he was a just a slip of a lad.
But Bamber was born with something else in his genetic make-up. It showed itself when he got into go-kart racing; that instinct to marry speed with vision. Bundle them together with nerve and here was a young boy with rare talent.
All that talent shone through when he teamed up with two other drivers to win the 2015 Le Mans 24-hour race, regarded as the premier distance race in the world. It is a win that marks him among the legends of the sport.
Motorsport is unforgiving - many have shown prodigious talent but never got beyond the odd national event. Bamber was luckier - he had the help of his parents and, later, the local Wheels Trust which recognised his talent and was prepared to back him.
