Bamber pumped to plunge into Spa

DRIVING FORCE: Earl Bamber will be one of two Kiwis in the Porsche team at the FIA World Endurance Championship. PHOTO/SUPPLIED 290415WCSUPBAMBER

Wanganui-born racer Earl Bamber takes on a new role for Porsche when he shares driving duties in one of three team cars in the second round of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) this weekend in Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium).

For the first time this year, Porsche will be running three 919 Hybrids in the LMP1 class, with two New Zealanders sharing the driving duties in different cars - Brendon Hartley (car No17) and Bamber (car No19).

Bamber, 24, shares the duties with Nick Tandy (Great Britain) and German Formula One driver Nico Hulkenberg.

Hartley, who is a year older than Bamber, teams with Australian Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard (Germany).

The third Porsche car (No18) will be driven by Frenchman Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, of Switzerland, and Marc Lieb, of Germany. For the crews of car numbers 17 and 18, who compete in the entire WEC season, championship points scoring is the target for Spa.

Bamber's crew have a different task.

After comprehensive testing, they now have to get used to all the racing procedures, will experience the excitement of their LMP1 race debut, and get ready for Le Mans, the season's highlight.

"From last year I have very fond memories of Spa. It was great fun to win the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race there from pole position. I love this circuit, as it is a spectacular place," Bamber said.

"I am so looking forward to taking the 919 through Eau Rouge and, anyway, I can't wait to race that car.

"When the Silverstone race was on I was glued to the screen. It was one of the best races I have ever seen," he said.

"It was like a six-hour Supercup race. I enjoyed working with Nico and Nick in testing and now I'm really looking forward to racing with our car crew for the first time."

The challenging Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps lies in the mountainous Ardennes region in the south of Belgium.

The lap length of 7.004 kilometres is above average and the track features a number of exciting high-speed sectors. The hybrid drivers are especially stretched on the long uphill sections.

The daunting compression of Eau Rouge and Raidillon fills racing drivers of all categories with awe. Because of the track's length it may well rain on one part of the circuit while other parts are still dry - a particular feature similar to Le Mans.

In 2014 the winner did 171 laps.