At the very last round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup season he added another jewel to his crown: New Zealander Earl Bamber became champion at the race in Austin, Texas. The 24 year old scored second place at round ten which earned him the points he needed to take home the trophy. The Porsche International Cup Scholarship driver pumped his fist on the way to celebrating his triumph. “I’m the happiest guy on earth right now. It was a fantastic Supercup year topped off with a nerve-racking race at the end. This title means so much to me,” explained the ecstatic Bamber. At the wheel of his 460 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, which is based on the seventh generation of the 911, Michael Ammermüller (D/Walter Lechner Racing Team) was the actual winner of the action-packed tenth round ahead of Bamber and Philipp Eng (A/Team Project 1).
Bamber took up the race from pole position, but in the second of 14 laps had to relinquish the lead to Austria’s Eng. The tension in the trailing pack was almost palpable with the front-runners constantly swapping positions with spectacular manoeuvres. Ammermüller got off the mark from second but became caught in a tussle with his Lechner teammate Nicki Thiim starting from third. Thiim spun on the track and had to slot back in down the field. In the meantime Bamber had fallen back to third. All eyes, however, were not glued on Bamber but on his hottest rival for the championship title Kuba Giermaziak (PL/VERVA Lechner Racing Team). Giermaziak was unable to hang on to his fifth starting position and was at times down to eighth to ultimately take the flag in seventh. This was not enough for the title. “Of course I would rather have won the championship, but at least it’s enough for the team title. I’ll be back next year,” said the somewhat crestfallen Giermaziak. After ten rounds, the victorious Bamber earned 155 points ahead of Giermaziak on 132 points. Bamber is the first race driver from New Zealand to pocket the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup title. Never before has a rookie as a newcomer clinched the series title. After just seven of the ten races, he had already moved out of reach in the rookie classification. Moreover, Bamber was crowned champion of this year’s Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.
Position three in the championship standings is occupied by Ammermüller with 114 points. Sunday’s victory was Ammermüller’s first win in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. The 28 year old from Bavaria battled his way to the front of the field and was justifiably pleased: “Second on Saturday, first on Sunday – that’s a pretty good result.” With 112 points to his credit, Porsche junior Klaus Bachler (A/Konrad Motorsport) netted fourth overall. “I started from tenth on the grid today and made up five places. I couldn’t do any more. Just two little points separate me from third place. My feeling is that I’ve progressed over the season and ultimately that is what’s important to me,” stated Bachler.
Porsche junior Sven Müller (Team Project 1) secured seventh in the overall standings. At the last race of the season he finished on tenth. “The other races this year ran better than the season finale. But all in all I can look back on a great maiden season in the Supercup. As a rookie I even won at Monza,” the 22-year-old German summed up his Supercup campaign.
The team title in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup turned out to be a family affair.
The trophy went to VERVA Lechner Racing under the direction of Robert Lechner and Walter Lechner Jnr with a nine-point advantage over the Walter Lechner Racing squad managed by Walter Lechner Snr (232 points). Project 1 with owner Hans-Bernd Kamps and team principal Paul Schlotmann came third.
