About Grove Racing
Since its foundation by team owner and driver Stephen Grove in May 2011, Grove Racing has well and truly established itself within the Australian motorsport industry. After more than seven years of racing, the team continues to grow in experience and success. Some of these include multiple Bathurst 12 Hour class victories, Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup class podiums, three Porsche Carrera Cup Australia class championships and countless Carrera Cup Australia class race wins.
After creating a successful and industry leading business in Grove Group, Stephen decided to build the Grove name within a different landscape; motorsport. The experienced Melburnian spent his opening season racing in Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia, before stepping up to the country's premier one-make series; Carrera Cup. Stephen and Grove Racing scored their first major accolade in 2013 when they finished on the class podium in the Bathurst 12 Hour. The following year proved to be even more fruitful, with Grove Racing and Stephen's 2014 campaign kicking off with a class victory in the Bathurst 12 Hour alongside distinguished professional co-drivers, Scott McLaughlin and Earl Bamber.
Stephen also picked up the 2014 Carrera Cup Australia Pro-Am event win, sharing the car over the weekend at Phillip Island with current DJR Team Penske Supercars star McLaughlin. Grove signed off what was an exceptional 2014 season in style by taking out the Carrera Cup Australia Elite class championship. 2015 began with another podium-place finish for Stephen at the Bathurst 12 Hour before he claimed second in the Elite class championship for Carrera Cup Australia.
In 2016, Stephen's son Brenton Grove, burst onto the motorsport scene and spent his first full year racing in the Australia Formula 4 Championship. The young gun started with a bang, winning his debut race at the opening round in Symmons Plains as well as leading Race 2. Earlier in the year, Stephen won his second Bathurst 12 Hour, again alongside Bamber and McLaughlin.
Grove Racing made another step up in 2017, with both father and son running their own separate series in the same season. Stephen once again took on Carrera Cup Australia, while Brenton competed in Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge where he finished second in the championship in his debut year. The Groves went on to make Carrera Cup Australia history that same year when Brenton scored a drive with local team Porsche Centre Melbourne Motorsport for the final rounds of the season to become the first-ever father and son to race in the category in separate Porsche entries.
In his two outings for PCM, Brenton picked up a number of top ten finishes in the highly competitive category, including a fourth place in Race 2 at Sandown and a ninth place from eleventh on the grid in a treacherous and wet Race 1 on the streets of Surfers Paradise. Meanwhile, Stephen won his second Carrera Cup Australia title in the Challenge class, on top of multiple drives overseas in other Carrera Cup championships at the infamous Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium and the picturesque Fuji Speedway in Japan. Stephen also had a drive in the 24 Hours of COTA at Texas' Circuit of The Americas.
The year of 2018 was yet another remarkable one for Grove Racing, starting off with a return to the top step of the Class B podium at the Bathurst 12 Hour in February. Father and son Stephen and Brenton shared the driving duties with Ben Barker and nominated fourth driver Daniel Gaunt; racing their way to victory in the all-Porsche class by three laps ahead of the competition. The team joined the Dunlop Super2 Series grid fielding an entry for Brenton, who spent the season learning the craft of Supercars’ second tier.
Meanwhile, Stephen made the step up the Porsche Pyramid and made his debut in Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup - the pinnacle of Porsche one-make racing in the world, competing at three selected rounds. His first round came at Monte Carlo on the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, followed by the Hockenheimring in Germany and the Hungaroring near Budapest, Hungary.
Grove’s international program also featured the 24 Hours of Dubai endurance race in January.
Between events, Stephen continued to enjoy success in Carrera Cup Australia, before closing out the year with an incredible third Pro-Am title at the last round on the Gold Coast. It was also the year of Bamber’s return to the team for selected outings in Carrera Cup Australia at the Bathurst and Gold Coast rounds, with the two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner’s appearance exciting fans. Over the Bathurst weekend Bamber also partnered Brenton for the Super2 Bathurst 250km endurance race where the pair scored a top 10 result.
An unprecedented 2018 for the team wrapped up under the lights in Bahrain. Stephen and Brenton represented Australia at the FIA GT Nations Cup where drivers from around the world raced under their flag in GT3 machinery. The Groves had mixed results over the weekend, however, were thrilled with the experience of representing their country.
Over the off-season, Brenton took part in the BNT V8s Championship in New Zealand as he continued to learn the craft.
The year of 2019 began with yet another Bathurst 12 Hour Class B victory for the team, with the two Groves and Barker joining forces to once again conquer the Mountain. Stephen made the step up into Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup for a full-season campaign as part of the formation of Team Australia, enjoying a number of class podium results through the season. He also competed in selected rounds of Carrera Cup Australia.
Brenton continued in the Super2 Series in 2019, but this time formed part of a two-car effort from Triple Eight Race Engineering who made their return to the category. His best result of the season so far, a second place, came at Townsville. Grove Jnr. also joined Grove Snr. on the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup grid at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, Europe for a one-off appearance, with the pair becoming the first-ever Australian father and son to compete in the series.
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