Scherer PHX “to Completely Change to Porsche at One Point”

Scherer Sport PHX boss Ron Moser has indicated that the German squad plans to “completely change to Porsche at one point,” but has ensured that it will continue to race the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II for an unspecified amount of time.

The team, formerly known as Phoenix Racing, operated a split entry at last month’s Nürburgring 24.

Its No. 1 Audi, driven by Christopher Haase, Luca Ludwig and Markus Winkelhock, was joined by a Porsche 911 GT3 R entered for Laurens Vanthoor, Patric Niederhauser and Ricardo Feller, although that car never raced after it was withdrawn following Vanthoor’s crash in Top Qualifying.

The team, based adjacent to the Nürburgring in the town of Meuspath, has been a cornerstone of Audi’s GT3 program for years, taking five of its seven N24 victories with the Ingolstadt brand.

Managing director Moser, the son of Phoenix Racing founder Ernst Moser, told Sportscar365 that while the team intends to eventually fully make the switch to Porsche machinery, it plans to keep racing Audis at least beyond this year’s N24.

“I want to say it should not be the last race [with] Audi,” said Moser.

“We still have a lot of experience, a lot of cars, good drivers. We don’t want to say this is the last race for the car.

“Yes, it’s getting less and less support [and] we will also change to Porsche completely at one point. But we will not decide yet to stop completely the program.”

When asked, Moser did not commit to an exact timeline for the future of its Audi program, but added that the team is not yet willing to ‘close the door completely’ given its rich history with the brand.

“How long, I can’t say yet,” he said.

“We also have to see how it can work with partners and sponsors, but for now I can tell that we don’t want to say [the N24 was] the last race.

“It’s a long term partnership, also a friendship after many years, and that’s why we don’t want to close this door completely.

“The car is really quick, we have really good experienced drivers, so it makes no sense to not drive this car.”

When asked about the transition to Porsche, Moser described it as “going good so far,” also praising the work from the likes of Porsche 911 GT3 R project manager Sebastian Golz in making the move smoother.

“It’s difficult always to [move to] a new manufacturer, but we get really good support from Porsche,” said Moser.

“We are really happy with this. It works now, the people from Porsche help us to prepare the car perfectly.”