Michelin 12H MUGELLO | 2026
Michelin 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS | 2026
Michelin 12H PAUL RICARD | 2026
Michelin 12H NÜRBURGRING | 2026
Michelin 24H BARCELONA | 2026Michelin 12H MUGELLO | 2026Michelin 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS | 2026Michelin 12H PAUL RICARD | 2026Michelin 12H NÜRBURGRING | 2026Michelin 24H BARCELONA | 2026
Driver – Brenton Grove
Team – Grove Racing (#10)
Driver – Stephen Grove
Team – Grove Racing (#10)
Stephen: “Well, our first race together goes back to the Bathurst 12 Hours, I would have thought. We had raced against each other prior to that in a few [Porsche Carrera] Cup races. But together, I would say Bathurst…?
Brenton: “Yeah, in 2019.”
Stephen: “And it was always with our own team – Grove Racing – in a Porsche Cup car. The hard part for me was when he started to get faster than me!”
S: “For me, it would have been… last year…?” [Brenton nods] “Last year when we finished 4th outright in Dubai. We were 2nd for a while, and then we were 3rd, so we had a good opportunity to finish on the podium, and then we had a Code 60 that came out at the wrong time for us, and we ended up 4th. But that’s an achievement. To finish a 24-hour race is an achievement. To finish in the top five was outstanding!”
B: “Yeah, I would say either 24H DUBAI last year, or 24H DUBAI in 2022, which was our first time in a GT3 together. That was quite fun.”
B: “Oh the traffic was quite crazy, and the competition was really strong. So it was an enjoyable race. We didn’t have many problems until the car started catching on fire at every pit stop. That was a bit of an issue!” [Laughs]
B: “Probably Spa. Or Monaco…?”
S: “Yeah, probably Monaco. Because it’s so hard to really ‘get on it.’ Spa’s a great track, but probably Monaco.
S: “That’s an interesting one. I know Brenton really, really likes Spa, but Abu Dhabi [the Yas Marina Circuit] is a track he really likes as well. So, I’d say it was one of those two?”
B: “Probably also Dubai. I love the Autodrome, it has a nice flow.”
B: “I think because we’ve driven Bathurst a lot, and we’re Australian, we probably don’t appreciate it as much because we’re always there. But Bathurst is also really cool.”
S: “For me, I’ve been very lucky because I’ve driven a lot of circuits. Last year, we did Kyalami in South Africa, and I really liked it. But Portimão is pretty high on my list too.”
B: “Suzuka would be really cool.”
S: “I’ve done Fuji, but not Suzuka.”
B: “He’s very consistent.”
S: “Brenton’s ability to adapt: to adapt to a circuit; to adapt to a situation; to adapt to running at night; to continually adapt his driving and his style for what’s needed. He’s just a very good long-distance racer.”
B: “I remember once he went to put his balaclava on, and he managed to put it on backwards!”
S: “For Brenton, and I have to digress here a little bit, because we weren’t racing together then. But he and the medical car had a ‘slight accident’ at Bathurst one year.
B: “The medical car hit me!”
B: “…okay, I turned in and hit the medical car!” [Both laugh]
S: “We always say, he’s hit everything but the safety car!”
B: “Only the best drivers hit the medical car!”
- 12 Hours, or 24 Hours?
B: “24.”
S: “24.”
B: “If you’re going half-way and doing 12 hours, you might as well do the whole thing.”
S: “Plus, in a 12-hour race, there might be three of you. But with 24 hours, there’s usually five of us. It’s a lot of fun to drive with Brenton and others.”
- Coffee, tea or Red Bull?
B: “Red Bull.”
S: “Coffee.”
- Petrol or electric?
B: “Petrol!”
S: “Petrol. Petrol, petrol, petrol!”
- Pineapple on pizza: yes or no?
S: “100 per cent, yes!”
B: “No. No way!”
S: “One HUNDRED per cent, yes! Plus, if I’m paying, he’s eating pineapple!”
B: “Okay. Put pineapple on because it’s easier to take off!”
- Max, Lewis, Fernando or Charles?!
B: “Max.”
S: “Max.”*
*Was there really any point adding fellow Aussie Daniel to this question? Come on, let’s make it interesting!
S: “I’m going to give you two: great son!”
B: “Good dad!”
S: “He got ‘great,’ I only got ‘good.’ I have to downgrade him now!” [Both laugh]
B: “Stephen…?”
S: Brenton, by a country mile! For a father and son, it’s quite interesting, because the father was fast at first, the son came through, and then the son’s much faster, and the gap just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger the older I get and the more experienced he gets!”
Sadly, after its Q&A with CREVENTIC, Grove Racing couldn’t replicate its 4th place overall at last year's Hankook 24H DUBAI. Having made the switch to Mercedes-AMG from long-time partner Porsche ahead of the 2024 season, Grove Racing was forced to retire after just 117 laps when a wheel bearing failure simultaneously terminally damaged a sensor for the AMG GT3’s anti-lock braking system. While the Australian team also suffered bearing failure one week earlier in Abu Dhabi, their efforts were nevertheless rewarded with radioleman.com’s ‘Spirit of the Race’ award.
Images – Nico Mombaerts / Petr Fryba
