Brothers in Porsche Arms

There was a sense of celebration at the Hampton Downs circuit south of Auckland in late October as 40 proud owners of new Porsche 991.2 generation 911 models ventured onto the full 4.0 kilometre International circuit in their recently-acquired GT3 and GT2 models.

It was an opportunity to exploit the full potential of their new Porsches on track under the guidance of some of New Zealand’s most experienced professional drivers. The activity was supervised by Tim Martin’s Downforce team and the line-up of instructors included a couple of the world’s best young Porsche racing talents—the Bamber brothers, Earl and Will.

The inclusion of these two international drivers was a chance for the enthralled customers to meet the Whanganui-born business partners and learn more about the extraordinarily successful first season of Earl Bamber Motorsport and their fledgling Team Porsche New Zealand campaign in Asia.

Each invited customer received four hours of personal tuition from a skilled race-car driver to gain practical experience of the latest high-performance technical enhancements.

Each Porsche owner received an invaluable four hours
of personal driving tuition.

Alongside the impressive line-up of 500 hp 991 GT3 models in the pit road were eleven 911.2 GT3 RS versions. Both models are fitted with the 4.0-litre flat six cylinder Porsche engine that is derived from the GT3 car which Will Bamber raced this year in the Carrera Cup Asia Championship.

The happiest GT3 owner was Dr. Leong Goh, who was featured in the last Christophorus magazine, as the cheerful dental surgeon from Pakuranga had fulfilled his declared intention to replace his Cayman GT4 with a factory-built 991.

There were also 10 GT2 RS customer cars powered by the model’s 700 hp flat six, twin turbocharged engine, ensuring the controlled driver coaching was appreciated by the new owners as they tentatively gained confidence in the sophisticated technology.

Among the GT2 collection was Earl Bamber’s own, New-Zealand-based car which is finished in a distinctive Guards Red colour. It commemorates his 2015 victory at Le Mans, the first of his two wins in the classic French 24 hour race. The car has door sill panels engraved with the signatures of the three drivers that shared victory in the Porsche 919 Hybrid. The trio were all honoured with personalised, factory-built tribute cars.

Earl’s father Paul was strapped into the unique passenger seat of the Bamber GT2 for a chauffeured ride around Hampton Downs with his famous eldest son. Given the international success of his boys, it was ironic that this professional trophy-hunting guide, who goes game shooting in the remote hills near Bethlehem on the upper Whanganui River, was being driven on a racetrack by Earl for the first time.

But, after a couple of quick laps, he suggested they stop. Paul, the literal driving force behind his two son’s early karting careers all over New Zealand, was still recovering from a recent ankle injury and hobbled away, saying he’d seen enough to be very impressed!

He explained to the guests during a luncheon presentation that he’d driven Earl and Will to karting meetings “from one end of the country to the other” from the time they began racing at just six years of age. The informative presentation by the Bamber Boys was introduced by a very modest fellow New Zealander, Greg Murphy, but the Bathurst touring car champion neglected to mention his own Porsche success while flying the New Zealand flag at Le Mans 23 years ago. Way back in 1996, Murphy competed in the 24 Hour race with the ‘Le Kiwi Comeback Team’, a bold initiative to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Bruce McLaren/Chris Amon Le Mans victory in 1966. Greg shared a Porsche GT2 with Bill Farmer and Robert Nairn, finishing second in class and 14th overall.

Will Bamber—following in the footsteps

When your older brother is a World Endurance Sports Car Champion, double Le Mans winner and one of the very best Porsche factory drivers in motorsport, what better way can there be than to pursue your own aspirations than winning races in the No. 1 seat in your own family motor racing team?

Carrera Cup Asia visited eight circuits across five countries. Will’s four victories were the most that any driver achieved on the track, and he took pole position at nine of the 14 races. A controversial judicial ruling following the Suzuka race frustrated his battle for the title, but the EBM Team claimed third in both the Driver’s and Dealer Trophy Championships. “It’s always a sad time of the year when a season ends but fortunately for us, we managed to end in the best possible way with a double pole and a victory at the final round Carrera Cup Asia races in Shanghai,” said Will. “The team performed fantastically well over the season. The opportunity for EBM to represent Team Porsche New Zealand and the New Zealand Dealer Network was something that we are very proud of as a team.”

The surprise invitation to drive the Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR for the weekend’s 4 Hour WEC race was a big step up from the regional Asian Championship. The Porsche 911 RSR has 510 hp and a much more extensive aerodynamic and tyre package compared to Will’s usual 485 hp Cup car. “It was completely last minute and a bit of a surprise. I found out about the drive after our track walk on Thursday night, so I had to get an International B licence overnight and was up until 3:00 am sorting the paperwork.

“At 10:00 am the next morning I was in a 911 RSR for the first time. It was never going to be easy jumping between two cars over one weekend but, with the support of Earl, we were able to transition without hampering performance. RSR is phenomenal, the tyre and aero performances are at another level when compared to a Cup Car. Early in the race, our Pro-Am driver had a spin which put us down a lap. However, we were able to chip away and fight back with a strong strategy to finish on the lead lap and in the top six. Top six on my debut, with a new team and driver line-up combination, was a great result.”