Ebm 1 11242020

Best Finish Launches Team Hardpoint into Exciting Partnership with Bamber, Porsche

By Mark Robinson

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Fresh off the best finish in its inaugural season of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition, Team Hardpoint can’t wait for the 2021 campaign and a new partnership to begin.

Rob Ferriol, Andrew Davis and Pierre Kaffer drove the No. 30 Team Hardpoint Audi R8 LMS GT3 to fifth place in the GT Daytona (GTD) class at the season finale, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts on Nov. 14. That came a day after Davis qualified the No. 30 a season-best second in class.

As rewarding as those results were, team principal Ferriol is just as excited about what lies ahead in the collaboration with Earl Bamber Motorsport and Porsche for 2021. Through that venture, Team Hardpoint EBM field a Porsche 911 GT3R for the full GTD season with Ferriol and Bamber driving, as well as undertake an incentive-laden program in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America series that begins under IMSA sanction in 2021.

Considering Team Hardpoint wasn’t initially planning to compete at Sebring, the fifth-place showing was even more impressive. The blueprint for the maiden season originally was to race only in the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup races. The team later decided to add the Motul Petit Le Mans and Twelve Hours of Sebring endurance events.

As strong as fifth place was, it could have been better. Davis was forced to pit with a punctured tire just outside the window that would have gotten the car to the finish with no more stops. A late full-course caution allowed Kaffer to get to the checkered flag without another stop, 10 seconds behind the winning No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche.

“What’s really cool for me is we had our best finish in 2020 in the longest race we ran,” Ferriol said. “I think it’s a great starting point for 2021, looking back here. I led laps, Andrew led laps, those are all good news stories for us. I couldn’t be prouder of Andrew and Pierre in the car, Will Bamber and Toni Calderon calling strategy and Owen Hayes as our engineer, and our entire team.”

Ebm 3

That team now looks to 2021 and the alignment with Porsche in a homecoming for Ferriol, who began racing at Porsche Club of America events before competing in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama for two seasons.

“I’ve loved Porsches since long before I could afford one,” Ferriol said. “When my business started to see some success a few years ago, the first gift I bought myself was a used Porsche 911. The first time I was on a racetrack, and the first time I went racing – both (driving) Porsches. So, to have this opportunity to not only expand the Team Hardpoint EBM partnership into the WeatherTech series but also share driving duties in the Porsche 911 GT3R is a dream come true.”

Getting the opportunity to co-drive with Earl Bamber makes it all the more enticing. The New Zealander is the 2019 WeatherTech Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) champion, a two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship champion. He helped close the Porsche GT Team’s run in GTLM competition in glorious fashion at Sebring, taking turns behind the wheel of both entries that finished 1-2. It gave Bamber his first Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring victory.

“It’s really exciting to see the partnership between Team Hardpoint and Earl Bamber Motorsport expand into GTD,” Earl Bamber said. “As a team owner, I’m very proud to see all of our hard work come to fruition. As a driver, I’m thrilled to stay in IMSA next year. I love the tracks, I love the competition and I love the fans. I’m going to do my best to get Rob and Team Hardpoint EBM some wins in 2021.”

Ebm 2

Team Hardpoint EBM is planning a multi-car customer program filled with incentives for the Porsche Carrera Cup North America single-make series. Any Team Hardpoint EBM Carrera Cup driver who finishes in the top three in points in the Pro or Pro-Am category will earn a test day in the WeatherTech Championship GTD Porsche. A Team Hardpoint EBM driver who wins the 2021 Pro championship in Carrera Cup will receive a paid ride with Team Hardpoint EBM in the 2022 Rolex 24 At Daytona.

“There’s nothing better than throwing it all out there and backing your own product. Porsche has done that and we’re right behind them,” said Will Bamber, Earl’s brother and the team manager and co-principal. “We believe that we should be reinvesting back into the sport and in our own customers, to give them an opportunity forward beyond the trophy at the end of the year.

“Earl and I coming up, as young guys, both got opportunities. We had to push for it, but it was done by reward and merit, and you just need that chance sometimes. Through the team car in GTD, we can do that. It’s something we’ve been trying to do globally, and it should be an exciting program for all young drivers who are trying to make it as a professional.”

The 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season starts with the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 30-31. The Porsche Carrera Cup North America season begins as part of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring weekend March 17-20.