Earl Bamber is looking forward to the GTE Pro battle in this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Kiwi is sharing the #93 CORE Autosport-run Porsche 911 RSR with IMSA colleagues Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy.
Speaking to Motorsport Week, Bamber made no secret of his ambitions for the 87th running of the French endurance classic: he's aiming for victory.
"I mean, that’s what we’re all here to do," said Bamber. "We’re not part of the WEC championship with our car, the manufacturer championship is all wrapped up, so that’s what we’re here to do. Obviously, it’s an even tougher task than what it was in the LMP1 days almost, we’ve got 17 Pro cars."
Bamber admits he looks forward to the peak of GTE Pro racing, and draws the comparison to his 2015 LMP1 win with Porsche.
"I think we’ve got a phenomenal battle coming up, and I think it could be one of the best races we’ve seen at Le Mans, it’s gonna be a titanic battle. I was lucky to probably drive in the biggest LMP1 battle of recent history, with Porsche, Audi, Toyota and Nissan, that was an amazing time. And now it’s gonna be great to fight at the height of GTE Pro, with 17 cars."
"I have to say it’s been a golden era with so many manufacturers, and losing two is a shame, yeah," Bamber continued. "But we still have many and the race will still be fantastic as well."
The two American-entered 911 RSRs will be sporting the Brumos retro livery with which it completed the first to rounds of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship.
"Yeah, it’s obviously really special having the Brumos livery. Especially with Hurley being the grand marshal is something quite special to close the loop for him."
"He was kind of emotional seeing the cars for the first time. Hopefully he waves us off and waves the chequered flag for us, that would be pretty good, wouldn’t it?"
