TCR Drivers’ standings leader Tanart Sathienthirakul looks set to make his first GT division start since 2019 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on 22-23-24 April with Earl Bamber Motorsport.
Tanart Sathienthirakul is set to make his 24H SERIES GT division debut at the Hankook 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS with Earl Bamber Motorsport.
The Thai driver teamed with countrymen Chariya Nuya, Anusorn Asiralertsiri, and Kantadhee and Kantasak Kusiri to take BBR’s first outright TCE win in the 24H SERIES at the season-opener in Dubai, one year on from Sathienthirakul’s 24H SERIES debut at the same event.
The Kusiri brothers and Sathienthirakul, now teaming with Pasarit Promsombat, followed up that achievement with TCR victory at CREVENTIC’s first European round of the season earlier this month at the Hankook 12H MUGELLO. The result also marked the first overall TCE win, both for BBR and the series as a whole, for the new CUPRA León Competición TCR.
The results mean that BBR leads the TCR standings in both the ‘European’ and the ‘Championship of the Continents’ standings, while Sathienthirakul and the Kusiri brothers lead the TCR Drivers’ title chase.
Now, Sathienthirakul looks set to make the switch to Earl Bamber Motorsport for the Hankook 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, the Thai driver having been registered alongside Malaysia’s Adrian D'Silva in the #61 Porsche 911 GT3 R. If finalized, this would mark the Thai driver’s first start in a GT3 car in the 24H SERIES, and his first overall since 2019. That year, Sathienthirakul fittingly, competed in a Porsche 991 GT3 R in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia’s Silver class alongside his commitment aboard a Bunjong Motorsports 911-II Cup in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. Prior to that, the former FIA Formula 3 European Championship contender also ran the Renault Sport Trophy in 2016 aboard an R.S.01.
Sathienthirakul and D'Silva will be joined in the #61 Porsche by Jeffrey Kingsley. Winner of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA in 2020, the Canadian is set to make his 24H SERIES debut at the Hankook 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS.
Earl Bamber Motorsport meanwhile, which made its return to the 24H SERIES in Mugello for the first time Dubai in 2020, will be hoping for a more successful outing at the Hankook 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS following a tough weekend at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello. Having led the event outright for nine laps, the eponymous outfit of two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Earl Bamber first lost time to a loose floor before ending its race in the gravel trap at San Donato following a collision with the SAINTéLOC Racing Audi R8 during the eighth hour.
