Thomas Laudenbach

“It's easy to name a single project. Maybe the one that today is the biggest fun for me when I think about it is because you mentioned it. We did the RS Spyder. That was where we started with the V8 engine. And the concept of this V8 engine ultimately found its way into the 918 Spyder, the structure. And we took that out of that and transferred it into what we are racing here with 963. Of course, it's not the same engine, and it's changed a lot - it’s a turbocharged engine now, but you know, the structure. So therefore I would say that this engine accompanies me for the whole time and that's quite a nice story. We had a lot of fun when we did the LMP2. I can still remember at Sebring when we got the overall victory against the LMP1s. That was just outstanding, it was so nice to pass by the LMP1 teams like this. A lot of good memories. But it's hard to say this is the only one. There’s been a lot, and for me it's a great pleasure to think back at what I was allowed to do in my whole career for this company.”

“It looks, unfortunately, in the office, in the factory and here not that much different. In my role, it is a lot of meetings, a lot of talking to people. It is sitting together with my guys, with the project manager, with the engineers. My philosophy here is: this needs to work without me here, because I can't attend every race. So the system here really needs to work very well without me. I'm happy to be here. I'm happy to see what's going on. If they ask me about my opinion, I'm happy to give my opinion. But I really focus, let's say, on using the efficiency of a race weekend, like talking to our competitors, talking to the sanctioning bodies, getting myself an impression. So this is basically at the racetrack. And at home, what can I say? It's a lot of meetings. Even so, it's great what we do. In the end, success is a result of hard work and it's a relative of a lot of details, and we’ve got to take care of these details of every little bit. And don't forget Porsche Motorsport is a huge organisation. It's not only what we see here with 963 or what we have in factory racing with Formula E. It's also GT racing, it’s one-make series, it’s Clubsport, and that's what we are proud of. So basically I have to take care of everything, talking to my direct reports and just making sure that we go into the right direction.”

“I'd love to drive the 963. Also, mainly because normally you don't get to drive a car which has a significant amount of aero downforce so that's what I would love to do because I'm not used to it. At the same time, I'd love to drive a Formula E car or the GT3 R, the new one. I'd love to drive all of them. Probably I'm not skilled enough, but if I would have the opportunity, I'd love to do it.”

“Well the memory was very clear, and that was a point where motorsport started for me because I have no contact through my family. And I still remember I was at school and one of the teachers, his father was working in Hockenheim. He was a former motorcycle racer and we got some tickets for free so we went there. I think I hope remember it right, it was the TT World Championship. Today, I would say the successor is the Superbike World Championship. And I was sitting in the grandstand and I was just fascinated with what I saw and it was the very first time. And this is how motorsport started for me because three years later, I was doing motorcycle racing myself. So that's how I came to motorsport. Then I did five years racing myself. And then obviously I had to decide, well, should I finish my studies or will I try to earn money with motorcycle racing? And I guess I made the right decision at that time. But this is really what I remember: being the first time at a real race event, and I think that's where it may have clicked and then the journey started.”

“Maybe that I did motorcycle racing myself, so I've not always been in meetings and things like that and managing stuff. My start was racing motorcycles myself. And I still think, even today, this helps me. I’m for sure not as good as our factory drivers here. But once you talk to them and they explain to you their problems or they explain something, I think it helps you to understand where they come from. Maybe that's a fact that people do not know. I guess all the rest is not a secret!”