For his 3rd Porsche Supercup season, Team Manager Christoph Huber has assembled a special quartet of drivers for the cockpits of his four Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. The most prominent of these is multiple MotoGP World Champion #9 Jorge Lorenzo.
The Italian-licensed Spaniard will be assisted by #8 Simone Iaquinta (ITA), who coached him in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia last season. In addition, #7 Leon Köhler (DEU) returns to the Supercup after a one-year break with Huber. At the season test in Imola he set the third fastest lap time and may well be a reliable point scorer for his team. Argentinian #10 Pablo Marcelo Otero, at 53 the oldest driver in the field, is the fourth driver on the grid. We spoke to Christoph Huber about his team and his goals for the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup 2023.
A few questions for the team manager.
Hello Christoph, we've heard that you've made some changes to the team during the off-season...
Yes, there have been quite a few changes to our team between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023. For example, we have a brand new workshop, which is much bigger than the old one. We also have a new driver line-up for the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. Not entirely new though – one driver is returning to us. But the rest are completely new to our Huber Racing team.
How do you think these changes will improve the team's performance in the upcoming Supercup season?
First of all, you can see that the team spirit and friendship between the drivers is very strong. We have already seen this in our pre-season testing and team activities. I think that will help us a lot.
The team itself, with the mechanics etc, is still the same – which obviously helps the drivers to find their rhythm. But we still have some testing to do and will continue to improve from race to race.
What is it like to have a MotoGP superstar like Jorge Lorenzo in your team for a whole season?
To be honest, I was a bit nervous at first before meeting him in person, but now we have a good relationship and I'd say it's starting to feel like a friendship. His friendship with teammate Simone laquinta is also helping Jorge to integrate fully into the team.
What do you think will be the greatest challenge for the team this year?
The biggest challenge is the back-to-back races – not only in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, but also in the other series we're competing in. But we are an ambitious young team – and as a young team boss I know how to motivate my guys. As a team you're always faced with the same problems towards the middle or end of the season. But we're used to it and we approach challenges in a professional manner. So in the end everything will turn out well.
How do you manage and motivate the team for a high-pressure race weekend?
Racing – especially back-to-back races – is pretty exhausting. That's why we always try to give the team members a few days off. And with events like our opening party, we also give them a reason to celebrate and become a motivated part of the team. Most importantly: We always value what we're doing. And I love being the motivator in our team – that's why we have so much fun.
Thanks a lot for the talk, Christoph!
