Brenton Grove believes a successful past few months has been the catalyst in boosting his motorsport career.
Alongside his father Stephen, Brenton was part of the history-making Australian team which secured two medals during the inaugural FIA Motorsport Games late last year – with the duo grabbing a bronze medal in the GT Cup.
Just a few months later, the father-son team were back at it again, only this time they finished an impressive 10th place at the 2020 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour with British driver Ben Barker, sealing the Pro-Am class win in the process.
With the former Dunlop Super2 Series driver looking to lighten his racing load in 2020, the two results have brought him back into the game and has paved the way for a new career path.
“The plan was to take step back and focus on the business side of my life. Still race at a high level, but not at the frequency that I had been in recent years,” Grove said.
“It wasn’t a conscious decision to go down to the GT3 path, but based on these strong results I have been fortunate enough to have other options pop up.
“Following the Motorsport Games, I got the offer to do the World Challenge Asia with Earl Bamber Motorsport because they were quite impressed with my performance and had a customer who was looking for someone to race with and learn from, which I obviously fit the bill.
“The Motorsport Games reignited my career in every sense. I was planning to take a backward step, but we got a lot of coverage from what we were able to achieve in the Nations Cup back in 2018 and the Motorsport Games last year.
“The results like the Motorsport Games and the Bathurst 12 Hour has given me a lot of confidence. It’s put me back in the spotlight and opened up doors that had never been there before.”
With Grove resting following his whirlwind few months, the 22-year-old is now preparing for the GT World Challenge Asia charge alongside Indonesian driver Setiawan Santoso, with his role being to drive while also coaching the amateur driver.
However, before his first race on one of the biggest Asian GT stages in March, Grove will switch the race suit with the dinner suit for the Motorsport Australia National Awards Gala Dinner, presented by Burson Auto Parts.
While Grove won’t be receiving any silverware for winning a title in 2019, he will be one of the guests of honour – forming part of a very impressive panel at the gala dinner.
Locked in alongside 2019 champions Scott McLaughlin (Supercars), Harry Bates (Motorsport Australia Rally Championship) and Will Brown (TCR Australia), Grove was excited to be named alongside the star-studded panel.
“It’s quite cool to feature as part of the awards this year, especially in the capacity that I am and with the calibre of drivers I will be doing it with,” Grove added.
“It’s a little ironic how it works. Obviously, we sponsor Scotty (McLaughlin) and I have raced quite a lot in my junior year with Will (Brown) so it’s nice we can all be recognised and there is a platform for our results to be showcased.
“Fortunately, we were all able to do so well last year because of Motorsport Australia and the support they provide to us year in year out.
“I am just really excited to be attending and featured at the awards. Steve and I got invited last year but it clashed with some previous engagements so it’s cool we can finally be part of this year.”
The Motorsport Australia National Awards presented by Burson Auto Parts takes place at the at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 29 February.