While New Zealand ace Earl Bamber only competed in one Porsche Carrera Cup Australia event, the Kiwi has more Carrera Cup runs on the board than most: two Porsche Carrera Cup Asia titles and one Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup crown.

And now, Bamber can add a Le Mans 24 Hour win to his CV – the 17th outright victory for Porsche.

The winning number 19 prototype, driven by Bamber, German F1 star Nico Hülkenberg and Briton Nick Tandy, had started third on the grid, and for a short time at the beginning even dropped down the order to eighth before settling in sixth for a longer period. Of all things, it is the rookie crew that won the monstrous classic. Neither Hülkenberg, who had the joy of being in the car at the most emotional moments of the race, being the start and the finish driver, nor Bamber brought Le Mans experience with them. Tandy, the third driver of the winning trio, had at least done two Le Mans 24-Hours for Porsche in the GT class. By doing super fast laps, staying calm but highly focused, the three of them drove a race with no errors and won it by their own merits.

“It feels incredible. I have enjoyed every single stint. It is been a long, long day to drive in the evening and then again in the morning. I just had a very short break. But I am not tired at all – I am pumped up on adrenalin now. I thought I would have heard strange noises in the car. But, of course, you fancy every kind of noise if you are on your way to win Le Mans,” said Bamber.

Wind the clock back to the 2013 season and Bamber was a participant in the inaugural Carrera Cup Australia Pro-Am event at Porsche Rennsport Australia, placing third in the Challenge Class with Stephen Grove.