Bamber Gave It “Absolutely Everything” for Comeback Win

Photo: MPS Agency

Earl Bamber has ranked his double-comeback victory in Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring “right up there” with his overall win in the 2015 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Kiwi scored his first overall win in the Florida endurance classic in only his third DPi start, recovering from two incidents in the final 1 hour and 15 minutes to take the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R to outright honors.

“It was some great driving marred by some horrible driving,” Bamber told Sportscar365.

“The car was fantastic and we had a good lead already. Then just out of the pits, I expected the LMP3 to break a bit earlier. I just misjudged it and turned around.

“So that was on me. We got the drive-through and then we had such good pace and managed to pace our way straight back up to the 5 [car] and get by.

“Then in [Turn] 15/16, a GT came back out and touched us.

“We were really lucky, we didn’t have any damage, but the guys recovered so well.

“The car was so quick. Hats off to Ganassi, to everyone that’s been at the shop digging since Daytona. We had quick cars there but we didn’t show our potential, so it’s awesome to show it.

“I’m just exhausted but this one is super special, obviously.

“So early switching to Cadillac and now to get an overall win at Sebring, collect another one of the big classics.

“I rank that race right up with Le Mans in 2015. It’s just awesome.”

When asked if he had any doubt of getting back around the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac of Richard Westbrook, Bamber said he “just couldn’t come back in second after blowing such a lead.”

“I just gave it absolutely everything,” he said. “After that the car was good, it was easy to drive. But I put everything in it to get that win.”

Bamber said they were “struggling all day” to get track position in the hard-fought race, with the car coming alive during the middle portion of the race.

“We kept changing tires, and a few guys weren’t taking tires,” he explained.

“It’s a new crew for the 02 and we’re learning the strategy. We thought tires were the way to go but we just kept losing track position.

“And as we lost the track position, it was so hard to pass, but we were probably one of the only cars passing today.

“So as soon as we got out front, I knew we’d be gone, and we really were. I was a bit worried that we wouldn’t be able to get by the 5 [car] but I managed to pick him off in traffic where he got held up in Turn 16.

“Then we just maintained the gap and I was very, very cautious around anything on the track.”

While having qualified fourth, Bamber felt they had a strong Cadillac from the beginning of practice on Thursday.

“We had a really good test here the other week and like I said, we’ve been working really hard,” he said. “It’s only the second year with the car and we’re getting better and better with it.

“We knew that we had strong cars, that was obvious with the 01 as well. Absolutely gutted it for those guys, two years in a row where they’ve been one of the favorites and getting robbed here.

“We knew as soon as we got clear air, we’d be away. That was the main challenge.

“It was really difficult to pass today. It was really difficult to follow because all the cars are so close right now. It’s not like someone’s two seconds off, you saw in qualifying everyone was within a tenth.

“I don’t even think we set the quickest lap at all in the race. I think it just shows how competitive it is right now.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John