New Zealand driver Earl Bamber has defied his rookie status to win the opening race of the Porsche Supercup series in Spain. Bamber, 23, led from start to finish to make the perfect start to the 10-round series raced in identical Porsche 911 cars which is a Formula One support class.
The Whanganui driver finished 0.018sec behind Austrian top qualifier Philipp Eng at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya but beat him off the start line to take control of the race and was never threatened by a field of 24 drivers. Bamber finished nearly 5sec clear of Eng, with Ben Barker of Great Britain third.
“How fantastic is it to kick off my first season in this series with a win. I’m quite happy if it continues like this,” he said.
Bamber earned a contract with Swiss team Fach Auto Tech after winning the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia series crown on his first attempt last year. The second round is Monaco in two weeks.
