Bamber earns €200,000 in two weekends

For immediate release: 11 October 2010

Bamber earns €200,000 in two weekends

Young New Zealand race driver Earl Bamber (20, Wanganui) has struck major prize money twice in as many weekends, driving the Chinese rounds of the illustrious Superleague Formula (SF) global racing series.

Winner of the 2010 New Zealand Grand Prix with Auckland’s Triple X Motorsport (VnC Cocktails Mad Butcher Toyota FT40), Bamber has now secured double victory piloting a V12 powered 750 horsepower wings-and-slicks car. Treacherous conditions around the street-circuit in Beijing’s Shunyi district over the weekend saw Bamber excel to win his second cheque for €100,000 (Euro) in as many weekends.

Originally drafted by the 12-round series as a television commentator, the 20-year-old was offered a last minute opportunity to drive for the FC Porto team when their original driver was unable to obtain a visa to enter the country,

Following a thrilling battle in the six-car, five-lap, dash-for-cash weekend-ending race at Ordos International Circuit that netted him his first €100,000(Euro), Bamber was offered to then drive for the PSV Eindhoven for the Beijing weekend.

Bamber’s switch netted the same overall winning result, where he again out-classed the regular European based competition on a circuit he’d never seen before and in diabolical conditions.

“It was a tighter version of the Hamilton street circuit,” described Bamber of the track. “Except we were doing 250km/h through the chicane.”

Qualifying for the two Sunday races went against Bamber, when car handling issues and a strategic plan failed: “I had a plan of heading out late in the session, but was struggling with the brakes.”

Just as Bamber was about to set out, the session was ended when one of the cars crashed, leaving him 18th on the time sheets and having to start from the back of the grid for the opening race on Sunday.

Finishing an incredible sixth, he started from ninth in the afternoon race, working through to second before the race was stopped to clear the track where the race leader went off.

Expecting to start from pole at the re-start, Bamber had to settle for second when the previous leader was reinstated. Following him for the remaining five minutes, Bamber didn’t quite get past in the run to the chequered flag.

With the Super Final five-lap dash-for-cash cancelled due to deteriorating track and weather conditions, Bamber’s points tally left him atop the prize winners podium.

“I can’t believe it. We started last on the grid for race one so I never thought we’d be leaving with a cheque for €100,000! It was so dark when they restarted the race that I couldn’t even see the buttons on my steering wheel! I just followed Álvaro (Parente) and watched his rear light to see what line he was taking. Maybe China is lucky for me. I certainly can’t complain about €200,000 in two weekends!”

Having only contested two of the 12 rounds, Bamber is placed seventh on the winners table and has pledged his earnings to the respective race teams. The winning trophies are to be added to the Triple X Motorsport collection where Bamber has his New Zealand Grand Prix trophy stored.

# # #

SF Round 11 China- Race 1 results
Location: Beijing
Date: 10th October 2010
Race 1 - SF Round 11 China – Classification – top ten.

Pos Car # Club Driver Time/Gap
1, 19, Tottenham Hotspur, Craig Dolby, 40:05.209
2, 33, Girondins de Bordeaux, Franck Perera, 3.047
3, 1, Liverpool, Frédéric Vervisch, 4.891
4, 69, Olympique Lyonnais, Tristan Gommendy, 11.747
5, 2, Sporting Clube de Portugal, Adrián Vallés, 13.932
6, 5, PSV Eindhoven, Earl Bamber, 16.099
7, 3, AC Milan, Yelmer Buurman, 16.714
8, 22, AS Roma, Julien Jousse, 19.397
9, 9, Olympiacos, Ben Hanley, 46.750s
10, 88, Team China, Ma Qing Hua, 14 laps

SF Round 11 China- Race 2 results
Location: Beijing
Date: 10th October 2010
Race 2 - SF Round 11 China – Classification – top ten.

Pos Car # Club Driver Time/Gap
1, 16, FC Porto Álvaro Parente, 49:18.621
2, 5, PSV Eindhoven, Earl Bamber, 0.844
3, 3, AC Milan, Yelmer Buurman, 2.633
4, 18, Sevilla FC, Marcos Martínez, 2.696
5, 15, Atlético de Madrid, Paul Meijer, 9.353
6, 24, Beijing Guoan FC, John Martin, 31.651
7, 1, Liverpool Frédéric Vervisch, 1 lap
8, 19, Tottenham Hotspur, Craig Dolby, 1 lap
9, 2, Sporting Clube de Portugal, Adrián Vallés, 1 lap
10, 33, Girondins de Bordeaux, Franck Perera, 1 lap

Image download:
• New Zealand's Earl Bamber has won a total of €200,000 in two weekends racing the V12 750 horsepower Superleague Formula (SF) series over two rounds in China. Photo: Triple X Motorsport http://www.comtechnology.co.nz/xxx/earl_china1.jpg

www.earlbamber.com
www.superleagueformula.com

ENDS

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