Motorsport: Bamber bags Porsche spot

The white Porsche 911 Earl Bamber will be driving this weekend. Photo / Supplied

Kiwi gets to drive factory-prepared 911 RSR at Road Atlanta

New Zealand has a third international factory motor racing driver - Porsche Carrera Cup racer Earl Bamber received the call-up to race a factory-prepared 911 RSR at Road Atlanta in the US this weekend.

Bamber leads the international Porsche Super Cup, was crowned rookie of the year at the last round at Monza and leads the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia championship, where he's the defending champion. He was also leading the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany series until a clash of race dates forced him to pull out of the German championship.

Such success in a one-make series in three different championships wasn't unnoticed by the powers to be at Porsche and the 24-year-old now joins Brendon Hartley (Porsche LMP1) and Richie Stanaway (Aston Martin) as Kiwi drivers with a factory gig.

Bamber was stoked when Driven spoke to him at the weekend.

"The phone call came only a few days ago and they told me I was going to drive at the Le Petit Le Mans 10-hour endurance race with Patrick Long and Michael Christensen," said Bamber. "I tested at Road Atlanta three or four weeks ago and it seemed to go all right.

Anyway, the people at Porsche watch all the results from the various Cup races from around the world and I've been doing pretty well."

The Kiwi has been the stand-out performer in a Porsche Cup car this year. But the 911 RSR is different to Bamber's normal GT car. The only similarities are probably the badge, the engine in the rear and maybe the steering wheel.

"It's hard to explain. It's similar to a Cup car but then again it's quite different. It has some of the same driving characteristics but it is a different beast. At the test I felt at home in it [911 RSR] and enjoyed driving it.

"The car is fantastic to drive and has an amazing amount of downforce and grip. The speeds it produces are very, very impressive. It's an amazing car and an impressive piece of kit.

"At the end of the day it's still a Porsche and drives like a Porsche. When I get out of them I have this great big smile on my face.

"It's a big step for me and I never thought ... I'd be driving an RSR this season and it's a huge privilege and honour to be able to drive for them [Porsche factory]," said Bamber.

It's a goal for many Cup car drivers to get a gig racing the RSR and if Bamber stays true to form expect him to be at the front of the field and challenging for a podium.

Evans claims first win from pole

Simon Evans and Shane van Gisbergen take weekend honours.

NZ SuperTourers driver Simon Evans couldn't have asked for a better start to the weekend's racing when he and V8 Supercars driver Shane van Gisbergen won the first race of the 2014-15 season.

Taupo Motorsport Park hosted the first of the endurance rounds where a small, quality field not only battled each other but also fierce weather conditions.

Evans had his breakthrough series win on Saturday where he scorched away from pole. Handing the car over to Van Gisbergen with a healthy lead meant the in-form V8 Supercars driver was never going to be headed, winning from Richard Moore driving with Tim Slade and Andre Heimgartner with Paul Morris.

"I'm stoked," said Evans. "I was able to lead from pole and pull out a gap. Then I just tried to mind the car and keep the tyres in good shape for Shane."

Van Gisbergen, who's fourth in the Australian V8 Supercars championship, was impressed by Evans' effort especially since his last race was in April.

"He did all the work," said Van Gisbergen. "When I took over the car the tyres felt like brand-new. I had a good pace and just had to cruise to the end."