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Andrew van Leeuwen

Bamber, De Pasquale team up for Dubai 24 Hour

The pair will be part of a four-driver Pro-Am squad that will also include father/son pair Stephen and Brenton Grove.

Their Porsche will be run as a joint venture between Grove Racing and Earl Bamber Motorsport.

Bamber has long been associated with the Groves and was twice Bathurst 12 Hour Class B winner sharing Porsches with Stephen Grove.

De Pasquale, meanwhile, races against Grove Racing in Supercars, however the Dick Johnson Racing driver has personal backing from the Grove family.

He was part of the Grove Racing line-up that finished sixth at the Dubai 24 Hour race this year.

“It’s awesome to be heading to Dubai 24 again with the Groves and Earl," said De Pasquale.

"We have the experience from last year and can hopefully use that to put us in good stead.

"It’s pretty cool race, through the night etcetera, and to be teaming up with a great bunch of people makes it an unreal week.

"I'm looking forward to heading over there and getting stuck in."

According to Bamber, who will be part of Cadillac's prototype programme next year, sights a firmly set on a podium in Dubai.

“Obviously, as a team, to continue working with the Grove Group – Brenton and Steve – it’s fantastic," said Bamber.

"We had a lot of success at Nations Cup, so now to continue that on to Dubai is super exciting. And as a driver, to rejoin Steve, Brenton and Anton, I think it’s going to be a fantastic week, and we’ve only got one goal – which is to aim high, and aim for the podium.

"We’re hoping for a good run in Dubai to lead in with some success to the Bathurst 12 Hour.”

Brenton Grove said it was exciting to bring Bamber and De Pasquale into the same line-up.

"We're itching to get back to Dubai," he said. "We had quite a good run last year, however we're definitely looking to go one step further.

"It's an incredibly difficult race with the traffic and so many cars, so it's mainly about surviving the first 18 hours.

"However, with Earl and Anton we're excited to see where they can take us at the end of the race. We're all really good mates so it will be quite cool to share a car for the first time.

"We've all driven with each other individually but this will be the first time together.

"Hopefully it's part of a bigger programme for 2023.”

The Dubai 24 Hour will take place on January 13-15.

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