Australian-Based Grove Becomes First GT Nations Cup Entry

Photo: Grove Racing

Grove Racing has become the first team to announce an entry in the inaugural FIA GT Nations Cup with father-and-son duo Stephen and Brenton Grove set to represent Australia.

They will share a Porsche 911 GT3 R prepared by Herberth Motorsport for the Am-oriented GT3 event in Bahrain on Nov. 30 – Dec. 1.

The event sees Silver and Bronze-rated drivers compete in an international competition, with each entry representing a country.

Teams from 17 nations are planning entries, the SRO Motorsports Group revealed last month.

At the time, entries from Australia, Belarus, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Taiwan and Thailand had all been formalized.

“To represent Australia at an international event with my father is pretty special,” Silver-rated Brenton Grove said.

“We have strong ties to Porsche in Australia and Germany so to be able to do the event in a Porsche GT3 R, representing Australia is a really special thing.

“For us, it’s one of the most exciting racing programs we have embarked on. For everything to line up and fit into our schedule was pretty fortunate and also to both qualify for the required driver ratings.”

Grove as been stalwarts of the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, with multiple class wins, including this year with a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

The Melbourne-based team also competes in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia and Dunlop Super2 Series, which runs in support of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.

“Neither of us have ever driven a GT3 R before and we’ve never been to the circuit, so the preparation will be quite different,” the younger Grove continued.

“Because we can’t get there any earlier or drive the car beforehand, there will be a lot of simulator stuff in attempt to adapt to the car as quickly as possible.

“When we arrive, we will catch up with the team at Herberth Motorsport and they will get us up to speed with everything we need to know ahead of the race.

“They are an extremely experienced team and I’m sure they will accelerate our learning curve.

“It’s one of the main reasons we chose to do the event with Herberth. They are well regarded within the Porsche family and have had tremendous success with the car.”

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.