Bamber and Porsche tackle latest IMSA round in Lexington

Earl Bamber and his Porsche GT Team tackles round four of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in Lexington (Ohio, USA) as the leader of the manufacturers’ and drivers’ championship.

After scoring wins at the traditional North American racetracks of Sebring and Long Beach, the sports car manufacturer would now like to further extend its lead at the race on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

After the long-distance races at Daytona and Sebring followed by the Long Beach sprint race, round four of the season is the first event of the year that will run over the standard 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Last year, Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) won the fiercely competitive GTLM class here. Due to its northern location – around the same latitude as New York – changeable weather conditions should be expected in early May.

“There’s definitely no lack of motivation and excitement,” commented Bamber. “We’re tackling Mid-Ohio as last year’s winners and have won the previous round at Long Beach. We now bring this momentum and these pleasing successes to the upcoming race.

“It’ll be important to notch up another victory there, because afterwards the IMSA series will take a long break in the lead-up to the Le Mans 24-hour race. We’re determined to travel to France as the series leaders and then continue the season in North America as the frontrunners.”

The New Zealander and the Belgian lead the championship ahead of their factory driver colleagues after winning the Long Beach street race.

The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is located about 100 kilometres south of the shores of Lake Erie, where most of North America’s automotive industry is based. The 3.364-kilometre circuit was opened in 1962 and has hosted sports car races ever since. In 2006 and 2007, Porsche clinched two overall victories with the RS Spyder on the natural terrain road course featuring many surface changes.

The race takes off on Sunday, 5 May, at 13:40 hrs local time (19:40 hrs CEST) and can be viewed live outside the USA and Canada on www.imsa.com.