Earl Bamber team wins Bathurst 12-Hour for Porsche

After nearly 12 hours of racing, Matt Campbell’s Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche makes an ambitious move for first in the final laps.New Zealand driver Earl Bamber experienced the winning sensation as an owner after watching his motor racing team deliver Porsche its first Bathurst 12 Hour race title in Australia.

Earl Bamber Motorsport’s #912 Porsche 911 GT3 R team of Matt Campbell, Dennis Olsen and Dirk Werner triumphed at Mount Panorama on Sunday.

“We wanted it baby, you see the guys celebrating here!”,” Bamber said on dailysportscar.com.

“It’s been crazy in one month to pull this off, I slept three hours each night this week preparing for this.

“That was a proper motor race, it was nail biting, this is our first win, we’re going to celebrate a lot after this.”

In another interview, with Fox Sports, Bamber said:” I have to thank all of the team. We worked flat out. This team is a monster. Matty Campbell – an incredible drive, he didn’t put a foot wrong. It was an incredible race.”

Campbell passed Britain’s Jake Dennis in the #62 R-Motorsport Aston Martin with just nine minutes to go and triumphed after 312 laps – the most completed in the 17-year history of the international GT endurance race.

Campbell, 23, was delighted to get the victory.

“What a way to send off the car. When the guys said I was in fifth after the pitstop I knew I had to push,” he told dailysportscar.com.

“The Aston Martin is quick on the straights so I had to do something different.”

Race officials investigated whether there had been contact between Campbell and Chaz Mostert’s Schnitzer BMW M6 GT3, but no penalties were issued.

Drivers compete during the Bathurst 12 Hour Race. — **DANIEL KALISZ/GETTY IMAGES**

**Drivers compete during the Bathurst 12 Hour Race**.

Reigning Blancpain GT Champion Raffaele Marciello of Italy was third in the Mercedes AMG GT GT3, holding off New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen’s #888 Vodafone Mercedes, Mostert and Andy Soucek’s #108 Bentley of Andy Soucek.

Source: Stuff, NZ

DANIEL KALISZ/GETTY IMAGES

Drivers compete during the Bathurst 12 Hour Race.