The 30th anniversary of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup is not the only celebration this season. Team FACH AUTO TECH from Sattel in Switzerland is starting its 10th season in the pinnacle of the Porsche one-make cups – rejuvenated and optimistic.
The Supercup is like a family. In the case of FACH AUTO TECH, this is literally true: this season aspiring racing driver and son of team manager Alex Fach senior will be behind the wheel of one of their three Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. The other two cars also feature top-class drivers. In this interview, Alex tells us about the drivers he will be putting his trust in for the 2022 season. And he shares his favourite memories of being a permanent fixture in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup for a decade.
A conversation with the team manager.
Grüezi Alex,
developing young talent is one of your passions, now you are starting the anniversary season together with your son. What are your expectations and how does it feel?
With Lorcan Hanafin and Alexander Fach junior, we have two very young and talented drivers in the team this year. We are trying to hide the fact that one of them is my son as much as possible. The only difference is at home, he might be criticised a bit more than other drivers.
Can you say a few words about each of your drivers and what makes the team special this season?
Alexander has proven to us in other series that he has a very good understanding of the car, and I expect a steady learning curve from him throughout the season. Lorcan is already very fast, now it's a matter of integrating him into the team as quickly as possible and putting his talent into play on the race weekends. Jukka Honkavuori, as the experienced driver in the team, will be the team leader. He will be able to give the youngsters valuable tips, but it will also be the first full season in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup for him.
This season, two new race tracks will be part of the calendar. What advantage do you think you will have over your competitors at Imola and Le Castellet?
No, I don't think we have an advantage over the others – even though we know Imola well from the Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse, in particular. All the teams are highly professional, they have collected enough data and, just like us, will prepare optimally for each individual track.
What is your verdict after a whole year with the new Porsche GT3 Cup? What is the potential for 2022 now that you’ve gathered more data?
Unfortunately, all the other teams have experience and data about the new GT3 Cup, too. It will be even tighter this year than last year and it will also be extremely close in terms of the competition. But the level of driving will be as high as ever :-)
Looking at the 30 year anniversary: Tell us your favourite story from the past Supercup seasons - which memory particularly stuck in your mind and why?
For us, of course, the championship title in our second year in the Porsche Supercup with Earl Bamber will always be our favourite memory. But we will also not forget our three victories in Monaco so quickly. Another personal memory is the defeat in 2016, when we were so close to winning the Overall Classification with Matteo Cairoli, but the car broke down shortly before the end and we finished second.
Thanks and good luck, Alex!
