2017 World Endurance Champion Earl Bamber is set to make his Hankook 24H DUBAI debut as part of Grove Racing’s driver line-up. 

The two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner has been a semi-regular presence in the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook – indirectly at least – courtesy of ‘Earl Bamber Motorsport’s entries at Mugello and Spa-Francorchamps earlier this year, as well as the Hankook 24H DUBAI back in 2020, an entry that also boasted Will Bamber on driver detail. The New Zealand team will also operate the ‘Grove Racing’-entered Porsche 911 GT3 R for the Hankook 24H DUBAI on 13-14-15 January. 

The 2023 edition though will mark the first time that Earl Bamber has competed as a driver at the event, having been confirmed on Grove Racing’s line-up alongside father-son duo Stephen and Brenton Grove, and Australian Supercars race winner, Anton De Pasquale. 

“Obviously, as a team, to continue working with the Grove Group – Brenton and Steve – it’s fantastic,” Bamber explained to Sportscar 365. “We had a lot of success at Nations Cup, so now to continue that on to Dubai is super exciting.

“And as a driver, to rejoin Steve, Brenton and Anton, I think it’s going to be a fantastic week, and we’ve only got one goal – which is to aim high, and aim for the podium.”

While Earl Bamber will make his Hankook 24H DUBAI debut in January, Brenton and Stephen Grove and De Pasquale last year competed in Herberth Motorsport’s #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R alongside Porsche factory driver – and 2016 Porsche Supercup champion – Sven Müller, securing an impressive 6th overall. Prior to that, Stephen Grove, a multi-time class winner at the Bathurst 12 Hours, had previously competed at the event in 2018 with MRS GT-Racing, claiming 2nd in 991-AM alongside Bertram Hornung, Matthias Jeserich and Glenn van Parijs.

“We’re itching to get back to Dubai,” Brenton Grove continues. “We had quite a good run last year, however we’re definitely looking to go one step further. It’s an incredibly difficult race with the traffic and so many cars, so it’s mainly about surviving the first 18 hours.

“However, with Earl and Anton we’re excited to see where they can take us at the end of the race. We’re all really good mates so it will be quite cool to share a car for the first time. We’ve all driven with each other individually but this will be the first time together. Hopefully it’s part of a bigger program for 2023.”