Bamber: EBM “Just Another Competitor” at Bathurst 12H

Earl Bamber has pledged to treat his own EBM team as “just another competitor” when he lines up for this weekend’s Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour with with JMR Johor Racing.

The New Zealander will be making his return to the grid for the Intercontinental GT Challenge season-opener for the first time since 2020, sharing JMR’s Pro class No. 2 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R with fellow GM factory drivers Nicky Catsburg and Alexander Sims.

One of the cars Bamber will be hoping to beat at Bathurst is the No. 61 Porsche 911 GT3 R entered by his eponymous Earl Bamber Motorsport squad, which will be driven by Klaus Bachler, Ricardo Feller and Laurin Heinrich as it returns to the race after a six-year absence.

However, Bamber says he has no qualms about going wheel-to-wheel with his own team in pursuit of victory in what will mark the Corvette’s Bathurst debut.

“It’s kind of quirky,” Bamber told Sportscar365. “It’s funny how it came together. I am banned from the garage and from all planning meetings for that event.

“They are just another competitor. Some people have asked me, ‘What happens if it’s the last lap?’ and I said, ‘You probably don’t know me that well’.

“As a driver, I’d go for it anyway; I don’t really care if it’s my own car. It’s funny, but it’s necessary. I always treat my own driving and the race team separately.”

EBM, which won Australia’s international enduro in 2019, is fielding an all-Pro lineup in GT3 competition for the first time since the 2020 edition of the Bathurst 12 Hour, having focused largely on its one-make Porsche commitments and Pro-Am GT3 racing in recent years.

“It always come down to budgets,” said Bamber when asked if getting back to Pro racing was a specific aim for his team. “Our main focus has been Carrera Cup [Asia], and we’ve got quite a few Pro cars in that this year.

“I hope we can do more Pro stuff because it’s really nice for the guys and the engineers, because they put in a lot of effort. If the chance comes up, we’ll do it.”

Catsburg Sees “No Reason” Why JMR Can’t Contend on Corvette Debut

While Bamber will be making his first start with JMR, his two co-drivers both have experience with the Malaysian team, having been part of the team’s Suzuka 1000km lineup last season together with another Kiwi star, Scott McLaughlin.

Catsburg, who will represent Corvette full-time in both the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this season, believes that the Pratt Miller-built GT3 car is more than capable of showing well on its first visit to Bathurst.

“If any car can, it’s the Corvette,” said Catsburg, who last raced at Bathurst in 2023 for Craft-Bamboo Racing. “I see no reason why it won’t be strong there too.

“I had a really nice time with JMR at Suzuka, I had a really nice time working with ‘Simsy’ and Scott [McLaughlin], but it’s cool to be back with Earl, because last time we shared a car [at the Nürburgring 24 in 2023] we won the race!

“We have a generally good idea of what should work, we have the simulator to prepare on, so I feel like the first time for the car… it’s not an excuse to not be competitive.

“JMR did a great job at Suzuka last year, which was also a new track, all three of us know the car well… I don’t see a reason we shouldn’t be competitive.”

Sims, meanwhile, will be making his debut on The Mountain, telling Sportscar365 that tackling the IGTC curtain-raiser had “literally never come up” in conversations with his employers in the past until the opportunity arose with JMR.

“From a personal point of view, it’s always cool going to a new place, because it doesn’t happen often these days,” he said. “It’s a huge challenge, I’ve started preparing on the simulator, and it looks like an awesome place.

“Who knows where we’re going to be, but hopefully with Nicky and Earl we’ll be pretty damn good and I can be there or thereabouts as well.”

He added: “The car has never been to a track where it hasn’t been nice to drive, so I don’t see why Bathurst should be any different.”

Davey Euwema contributed to this report