DANVILLE, Virginia (May 5, 2021) – Team Hardpoint EBM drivers Katherine Legge and Rob Ferriol will co-drive the No. 88 Richard Mille/Champion Porsche/GridRival Porsche 911 GT3 R at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course for round three of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona (GTD) season and the opening round of the 2021 Sprint Cup season.
Legge and Ferriol last drove together in the No. 88 Team Hardpoint EBM Porsche at Daytona for the 24-hour season opener, then split into two cars for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Legge drove with Christina Nielsen and Bia Figueiredo to a fifth-place finish for the all-female line-up, while Ferriol persevered through an early-race incident with Earl Bamber and Trenton Estep to finish 10th in class in the No. 99 Team Hardpoint EBM Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Though Team Hardpoint EBM expected to continue the two-car lineup into round three, stakeholders behind the all-female program have experienced a delay in finalizing the remaining full-season partner. Rather than pull the No. 88 Team Hardpoint EBM Porsche for Mid Ohio, the team has instead chosen to withdraw the No. 99 and combine resources to keep the No. 88 entry on the grid driven by Legge and Ferriol.
“When I committed Team Hardpoint EBM to the Women’s Initiative program, I did it because I believed in the merits of the program, what it means for the next generation of drivers, and what it means for the sport as a whole,” Ferriol, the Team Hardpoint EBM owner, said. “As we continue to work through year two of COVID, some of the outside commitments we expected to have in place have not fully come to term. That said, with key support from Richard Mille and Champion Porsche, we’ve decided the best demonstration of our commitment to those merits is to keep Katherine in the car full-time while we continue to work toward funding the 88 as an all-female entry for remainder of the season.”
Legge currently sits ninth in the season-long driver’s championship, with Ferriol in 11th. The drawdown to a single car for Mid-Ohio unfortunately takes both Bamber and Nielsen out of the first Sprint Cup race of the season. Bamber, who along with brother and Team Manager Will Bamber have joined forces with Ferriol and the Hardpoint outfit for 2021, will continue to work closely as a driver coach and mentor for Team Hardpoint EBM drivers Riley Dickinson and Efrin Castro in Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
“This was not an easy decision,” Ferriol said. “Earl remains a significant part of our team, both on and off track, and I was really looking forward to our first Sprint Cup race together. Likewise, after such an exciting performance at Sebring, I hate to pull back on the momentum created by Katherine, Christina, and Bia with their near-miss of the podium.
“As a young team I knew there would be speed bumps along the way, and this is just one of those challenges to overcome. I’m grateful that, even at our early stage, we’re in the fortunate position to blend support from my partner GridRival with that of Richard Mille and Champion Porsche to continue demonstrating the power of diversity in IMSA .”
Legge remains a player in her quest to introduce motorsports to more women.
“Due to Covid these are bizarre times in racing, and as such you have to adapt,” Legge said. “We are really grateful to Rob, Earl and Team Hardpoint EBM for helping with this hiccup and whilst I will miss Christina and Earl in Mid-Ohio, I’m sure they will be back on track with us soon, and I will just focus on getting the best result possible for the team. We will continue to work with the stakeholders on putting all the jigsaw pieces in place for the remainder of the season.”
The No. 88 Richard Mille/GridRival Porsche 911 GT3 R is in action at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, May 14-16.
About Team Hardpoint EBM:
Hardpoint Motorsports was founded by Rob Ferriol in 2018 with the vision of combining his experience as a successful entrepreneur with his passion for racing. Team Hardpoint EBM is a joint venture between Team Hardpoint and Earl Bamber Motorsport formed in late 2020 to combine the resources of EBM and co-owners Earl Bamber and Will Bamber and the early success of Team Hardpoint. Headquartered at VIRginia International Raceway, the team’s 2021 plans include a full-season effort in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship in a Porsche 911 GT3 R and a multi-car effort in the IMSA Porsche Carrera Cup North America. More information on Team Hardpoint EBM can be found at www.hardpoint.com or through its strong social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
