Earl Bamber (part 2): GT3 is great training

Part 2 of Earl Bamber's interview: ahead of the next WEC round in Fuji, explains the benefit of GT3 races to compete at the highest level and come back to the 24 Hours of Nürburgring victory.

CRR: You are really multi-tasking this year with WEC + GT International Challenge with the Grove family + Nordschleife + races in Asia. This year must be a fun year for you but very demanding physically with all those races (three 24-hour races in a row in May-June) and different timeframes. What is your recipe?

📷 © Luc Warnotte: Earl Bamber at Motul Petit Le Mans 2022

Earl Bamber: “I love racing. If you ask people who know me, I sort of eat, breathe, and sleep motorsport. I just love it. I love to be at the track, I love the challenge of it. I’m in Malaysia now with my own team getting bigger, with lots of cars. I wanted to do those GT3 races because the WEC calendar is quite short. We only have 7 races this year. As a professional athlete, that is not enough driving to perform at the highest level that is required in the WEC by doing those races and some testing. You need to be in a car, in a competitive environment, trying to extract the most from yourself quite often. If a top golfer or tennis player only did 7 competitive tournaments per year, they would never be world #1 because people playing more often would just be better because they are more on it. This is why I do those GT3 races because I see a benefit to competing at the highest level and everything like that.

📷 © Luc Warnotte: Earl Bamber with the Grove family at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 2023.

Also physically, this is good because you get good race fitness. There is one thing to go for a run or being in a gym but when you are in a car, it is a different type of intensity, a different type of fitness of your body and your mind. Because you are used to being inside a car.

The most difficult training that I do here in Malaysia is with a shifter kart. I’m often doing this as well as go-karting. I’ve two days planned for next week ahead of Fuji. Just to go through a rhythm of driving. The most physical car to drive is a go-kart. It is way harder than anything we do in Hypercar. Putting yourself in those difficult situations is great training."

📷 © Luc Warnotte: Earl Bamber with Ferrari 296 GT3 at 24 Hours of Nürburgring 2023 and Porsche 911 GT3 R at 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

CRR: You remained faithful to Porsche in SRO races and did a few races with the Ferrari 296 GT3 on the Nordschleife. Which do you prefer to drive: Porsche 911 GT3 R or Ferrari 296 GT3? Forget you are a team owner, just as a driver!

Earl Bamber:: “I’ve been driving lots of them so far. This relates to your question of BoP as well sometimes. When you sit at the other side of the fence as a driver and you look at your friend “it is incredible your car is so quick, it’s not possible, …” but when you talk to everyone, everyone is at the limit all the time. Ferrari did put together an incredible GT3 car which fits very well to the Nordschleife. So, definitively, on the Nordschleife, the Ferrari is the car I would prefer because it is phenomenal around there. On another circuit, I might make another choice. This is also the hard thing in BoP: certain cars are fitting better to certain tracks and tires”.

📷 © Luc Warnotte: Earl Bamber, Nicky Catsburg, David Pittard and Felipe Fernandez Laser won 24 Hours of Nürburgring 2023 with Frikadelli Racing Team #30 Ferrari 296 GT3.

CRR: The Ferrari 296 GT3 has a strong reputation but at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring the win came a little bit as a nice surprise. Moreover with 4 drivers from different manufacturers who are rather competing against each other than working together, and a team (Frikadelli Racing Team) who discovered the car 3 races before. What made that success?

📷 © Luc Warnotte: Earl Bamber, Nicky Catsburg, David Pittard and Felipe Fernandez Laser with Frikadelli Racing Team #30 Ferrari 296 GT3 at 24 Hours of Nürburgring 2023 .

Earl Bamber: “We all worked very well together as a team. We each brought our own individual knowledge from our past to ultimately build a great package. Our first race was not that strong in NLS but we knew we had the right ingredients. It sort of came together. The most difficult part of the program was winning the 6-hour race because this gave the mechanics, the team, and the drivers, the confidence that we can fight the big manufacturers at the Nürburgring. Being from different manufacturers made us stronger because we had so many different ideas and opinions to bring it all together. Nicky has driven everything, David has driven different things, Felipe and myself with the Porsche, we each knew the different angles of what was good and we could discuss and sort of mix it together in something very good for the Ferrari”.

End of interview

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📷 © Luc Warnotte at 24 Hours of Le Mans 2023: Earl Bamber: “We are on the edge to be in front of them”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at 24 Hours of Le Mans 2023: P3 for Bamber/Lynn/ Westbrook with Cadillac V-Series.R #2.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 2023. Hypercar race