With four titles in just 2 years – 2x Overall Champion, 1x Rookie Champion and 1x Team Champion – team manager Torsten van Haasteren is ready for the new Porsche Supercup season. For the third year in a row, he is not experimenting with the line-up behind the wheel of his five Porsche cars and will be fielding the same drivers as in 2021 and 2020. We met Torsten at the official season test at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, and asked him what his strategy is for defending the titles, and what it will take to be really fast at Zandvoort.

Hoi Torsten,

once again, your team delivered a stellar performance last year – what are your plans for the 2022 season?

Thank you, it really was a great year for us. We will be competing in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland again – with the exact same crew. We successfully drove the 24 Hours of Dubai in the beginning of this season, and we plan to participate in a few more races later in the year. Plus we will also race in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux, and the Sprint Challenge Benelux, as well as some Porsche Sport Cups in Germany. It’s going to be a pretty busy year again!

 

This season you will not only defend the drivers' championship title but also the team title. What is your strategy to repeat the success of last season?

Never stop innovating. Everyone in our team is getting better every day, so we will try to improve on last year. We have never been so motivated to prove ourselves in every race.

 

Can you say a few words about your drivers and what makes the team special this season?

Our drivers are still the same as last season, which is something special in itself. We are the only team in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup that hasn't changed. Our motorsport family is growing closer season after season, and we are all highly motivated and on the hunt for podium finishes this year!

Zandvoort was your home race last season, but things didn't really go according to plan. What is the secret to a really fast performance there?

Circuit Zandvoort is a track that consists of both very fast and very slow corners. The secret is to find the balance of the car in both the fast and slow corners, with the slow corners being a bigger part. In addition, there are few run-off zones, so you have to drive at the limit lap after lap without being able to make mistakes. We want to perform stronger at our home race in the Porsche Supercup anniversary season, but Huber Racing also undoubtedly wants to build on their 2021 success, so let's see what happens!

 

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?

One of the strongest memories as a team was of course our pole position and win in Monaco in the first round of the 2021 season, and the win in Monza in our debut season in 2020, because those were very special moments for us that gave the team a lot of motivation. Most team members still get goosebumps when they think about those two events.

 

Thanks and good luck, Torsten!