Earl Bamber Motorsport ready to make Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia debut

EBM (Earl Bamber Motorsport) will make their long awaited Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS debut this season, two years after first announcing the entry.

The team overseen by double Le Mans winner, Earl Bamber, joins the grid at Sepang on May 20-22 after the global pandemic left SRO Motorsports Group’s previous two Asia campaigns on hold.

As before, the team has two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs ready to compete.

The first still features Setiawan Santoso, who finished third in 2019’s GT4 class standings. He’s joined by Reid Harker who raced with EBM at the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa last season and was part of the Team Porsche New Zealand Scholarship in 2021.

The Kiwi, whose entry with Santoso encompasses all six events, has also contested several 24 Hour Series rounds with the New Zealand team, which now has operations in South-East Asia, Europe and Australia.

EBM’s second car, also entered in the Pro-Am class, will contest the season opener in the hands of Adrian D’Silva and team principal Earl Bamber.

“We are really excited to join SRO’s Asia grid with both driver line-ups in 2022,” said Bamber. “This comes off the back of winning the Thailand Super Series championship last season, which was our first title as a team.

“Setiawan is embarking on his first full season in GT3 racing but has already been very impressive in pre-season testing.

“Meanwhile, Adrian and I began our racing journey together in 2013 at Sepang, so returning nine years later in the same livery will be a special moment for both of us and the team.

“The weekend will also mark an important step for motorsport in Asia: the region is open and racing again after a two-year pause. We cannot wait for the season to start.”

Santoso and Harker will also enter the four subsequent rounds in Japan – held at Suzuka, Fuji, Sugo and Okayama – as well as Indonesia’s season finale at Mandalika.

2022 CALENDAR

May 20-22 // Sepang International Circuit // 2x 60min races
July 15-17 // Suzuka International Circuit // 2x 60min races (inc. Japan Cup)
July 22-24 // Fuji International Speedway // 2x 60min races (inc. Japan Cup)
August 19-21 // Sportsland Sugo // 2x 60min races (inc. Japan Cup)
September 23-25 // Okayama International Circuit // 2x 60min races (inc. Japan Cup)
October 21-23 // Mandalika International Circuit // 2x 60min races