Lechner Racing has been promoting motorsport careers since 1975 – first that of founder and racing driver Walter Lechner senior himself. At an early stage, he focused on Porsche race cars and on the Porsche one-make cups as a platform, also as a race series organiser. Now his sons have taken up the mantle, and are continuing this successful collaboration in the second generation. In the anniversary season of the Porsche Supercup, the BWT Lechner Racing team will be competing with a smaller and significantly younger squad, but with the usual high calibre of drivers. We talked to team boss Robert Lechner in Imola, and asked about his plans for 2022. He also told us about some of the highlights he associates with the team's long Supercup history.

Servus Robert!
Ayhancan Güven was promoted to official Porsche Driver after only one season in your team, and is now driving in other series. You had to rebuild your team because of it. What is important in this process?
First of all, congratulations to Ayhancan as he really deserves to be an official part of the Porsche racing family, and we are very proud to have been able to support him last season. This year, we decided to run only three cars, down from five last year, to maximise our support in all areas for all our drivers. Motivation and team spirit are always the most important tools to push the drivers to give their best performance.

 

You were pretty busy last season with lots of races for Lechner Racing. What were your personal highlights in 2021?
For me, it was definitely the Monaco race in terms of teamwork, and the Spa-Francorchamps race in terms of fighting spirit and result, with both Dylan Pereira (P1) and Ayhancan Güven (P2) on the podium at the end.

 

Can you say a few words about each of your drivers and what makes the team special this season?
We have managed to staff both the team and the drivers with people who share the same ideas, and we want to continue to focus on quality instead of quantity in the future. Dylan is just super experienced and fast, and well known to the team as we have been working with him for a long time now. Harry King and Bastian Buus are both new to the team, but mega fast, skilled and talented with impressive control and overtaking ability. Lechner Racing is the most successful team in Porsche Supercup history, and our goal is to defend this position in the future. To be and to remain successful these days, it takes much more than just good results.

What do you think of the electric movement in motorsports?
Of course, we will be watching the development of electric racing vehicles in general and are open-minded about what the future of motorsport will bring for drivers and teams.

 

What is your verdict after a whole year with the new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup? What is the potential for 2022 now that you’ve gathered more data?
The 992 is really a very beautiful racing car and technically as modern and safe as you could wish for. We are guaranteed to have close and exciting races with this car, and the feedback from the drivers has been good across the board.

 

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?
On 4 August 2019, the late Walter Lechner senior celebrated his 70th birthday at the Hungaroring. All his family and the whole team were there, and the special day was made even better with a win by Michael Ammermüller, who started from the front row. 
The team surprised Walter with the bonnet of Ammermüller’s 911 GT3 Cup, decorated with pictures of special moments in his career, and everyone in the team celebrated a wonderful weekend. This day will always remain in my memory!

 

Thanks and good luck, Robert!