LM24: Bamber on GT move - 'I take the approach like I'm a rookie'

Porsche's Earl Bamber and teammate Nick Tandy have undergone a bit of vehicular culture shock after winning last year's 24 Hours of Le Mans overall in a 919 Hybrid LMP1 car. The GT aces, who race full-time for the German brand in IMSA's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, got the nod to race a third 919 last year with Formula 1 star Nico Hulkenberg and duly won on their LMP1 debut.

With Porsche reverting back to a two-car LMP1 program for 2016, the trio won't be able to defend their overall victory, and in the case of Bamber and Tandy, they've been drafted into Porsche's GTE-Pro effort where they'll drive 911 RSRs. The LMP1 Hybrid-to-GTE-Pro shift represents one of the biggest reductions in speed for any driver in a year-to-year span, and according to Bamber, it will require a complete reprogramming of his mindset around the 8.5-mile circuit.

"It's a different challenge for me in a GT car," he told RACER. "I take the approach like I'm a rookie, like last year, which worked quite well. I've never driven a GT car here in the race so there's lots to learn; it's a different style, and it's just as difficult, if not more difficult, with the interference from the prototypes around us."

Bamber will have approximately half the 919 Hybrid's 1000 horsepower in the 911 RSR, but he says the challenge of driving a GT car is just as great, and with a stacked field of competition in GTE-Pro, reaching Victory Lane could actually be a harder task than what he faced last year.

"Maybe if it rains, which is good Porsche weather, we can play for the podium," he said in reference to the poor weather expected for most of the week. "It's just a difficult to optimize a car with the stints and fuel loads; we have a lot of work to optimize it, but we've got some good technology in there as well. It's a different racing style; you're still flat out and all in a train. Let's say last year there were six quick [LMP1] cars; this year there's going to be 13 quick cars with the GT field. I'm looking forward to it. I think it's going to be one of the best battles."

The native of New Zealand is also happy to have one of his homegrown heroes participating in the event in the same GTE-Pro class.

"When I was in go karts he was just starting in IndyCar," Bamber said of Scott Dixon, who's making his debut with Ford Chip Ganassi Racing. "To come and race now in Le Mans, it's going to be a challenge, but it should be awesome."