Business of Speed Podcast - The Godfather of Porsche Racing: Alwin Springer

Episode Date: July 4, 2026

Alwin Springer arrived in Toronto in 1965, planning to spend a couple of years before heading to the United States. He never really left racing again.On this episode, Vincenzo and Lali talk with the man Porsche calls the Godfather: a former mechanic, co-founder of Andial, and past President and CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America. Springer explains how three broken Porsche engines became his ticket into Vasek Polak's shop, how a confiscated Rolodex pushed him to start his own business in 1975, and how Andial's 935 won the 1983 24 Hours of Daytona before the 962 took over the decade.He also talks about running Jody Scheckter's Can-Am program in 1973, the seven months his team spent cracking the 962's engine computer with the help of a Silicon Valley engineer, and why he's advised Porsche Motorsport for more than two decades without signing a contract. Ask him about Balance of Performance, and he'll tell you the same thing he's told IMSA for years: he wouldn't take that job for a million dollars.

Hola, Vincenzo. Wally, how are you? I'm doing well. How are you? I'm just great. You know why? Because yet another episode where we got to talk to somebody that was a pioneer in something so freaking cool and, you know, just like paved the way for a lot of motorsport, whether

it's drivers or just entire disciplines in motorsport. And this person is none other. I say none other, but do people realize who this man is? They should. He's like the godfather of Porsche Motorsports. He is the godfather of Porsche Motorsports, also known as the OG, the original gangster, one of the utmost, most influential figures in sports car racing history. I would say not just in North America, history.

Oh, yeah, for sure. As you know, co-founder of Andyle, legendary Andyle. In fact, he was wearing an Andal shirt, no? And we talked to him. It was amazing. Yeah, it was pretty chill. I mean, we're just hanging out with Alwyn Springer in this episode, and he's just talking to us like we're old pals,

and my internet decided to give out at the end, so I kind of drop off. If you watch to the end, you'll see I kind of drop off, but super nice. So gracious with his time. He's just so knowledgeable. So this man, first of all, he could— And sharp as a tack.

Sharp as a tack, but also he could dismantle probably a bomb at this point. He's such an elite engineer. He knows every in and out of every Porsche vehicle, racing. If you were doing sports car racings at any time, sort of 70s, 80s, 90s, your car would have been touched by Andyle, right? It was that level of legend. He's raced with some of the greatest names out there. Yeah. I don't want to spoil who is his sort of favorite or most gifted drivers.

I don't want to say that, but it's an F1 name that people will recognize. We were in awe, perhaps, for him to take the time to speak to us. It was incredible. I think, you know, when you talk to someone like him where you don't know, you know, not necessarily a tech, a native of this technology, right? Probably would have preferred to have us in person. And yet we're talking to him and he's giving us time. he's giving us detail at one point i kind of got the timeline of things a little confused

and he's like wait a minute you just skipped an entire portion of things i'm like oh man sorry you know he's just like he was on it he was on it and the history of what he was a part of it's crazy we take for granted now because we just look back or we don't even look back right we just look at the way things are now we just you know we see them for what they are but it's like there was somebody that had to pioneer those there was somebody that had to change the way things were on that had to set a standard and he has truly set the standard in motorsports he's like a living archive he's a living archive in chenzo like some people are sort of part of porsche's history and some people are the history truly truly absolutely he is and this he is the history of porsche racing

and we are so lucky that that we have him that he still sort of he goes to events he does things You and I are hoping we run into him at a race somewhere near us soon because we really want to spend some time with him. We'll chop it up with him a little bit more. But for now, enjoy our conversation with Alwyn Springer, the godfather of Porsche Motorsports. You and I have something in common, and it's that you used to live in Toronto. I currently live in Toronto. Tell us about arriving in Canada and that first winter that really made you maybe not like Canada so much. Yeah, Canada.

Just as a background, I always wanted to see the United States because I had a time in Germany between the end of journey ships, autoelectric and auto mechanic. And for a master's degree, I needed some experience as a mechanic. And I wanted to go to the United States. But that unfortunately didn't work out because the Vietnam War started. And then somebody said, OK, Toronto. And I said, Toronto, Canada, it's close to the United States. It's perfect. So that's how I came to Canada.

But I have to say that I never wanted to emigrate. I just wanted to bridge the time. And I arrived in October 1965, and then I started to see my first winter time. And I'll tell you, it wasn't an awakening for me. But I have to say, the winter at that time in Toronto, It was bitter cold. We had a lot of snow, but the sky was absolutely deep blue. So therefore, the sun was shining.

So, you know, like it was hot, but it wasn't really brutal. But then in January, I met my future wife. And in March, I got involved with Porsche Racing. I worked at Volkswagen Canada as a mechanic. And that's how the whole journey started. So, and I stayed in Canada for, in Toronto, for about two more years. But I went back to Germany, did my master's degree. And then came the eternal question, you know, like, where do you want to go?

Do I want to go back? Do I want to stay? And I have to say that the winter times was a very, very important factor. No, because they start, you know, they start in November and they don't finish till April, May. And that was for me. It's May right now. I'm pretty sure it snowed over there last week for her. Yeah, it snowed two weeks ago and it's May 14th. Yeah.

So let's see what happened. And then I went to Daytona Beach with 906 from Canada. And that's when I met the people from California and they said, you know what? hey, people like you, we need. I got home. I told Jolant, that is her name. I told Jolant, listen, I'm going to go to California. She said, when do you want to go?

I said, within the next two weeks. So I quit, got my Volkswagen, put my toolbox in, put my suitcase in, and drove to California. And I was in the beginning of 69. So Canada, I had a lot of friends. I had the German Automobile Club, DAC. see it was it was just set at the basis for my um my adventure here or adventure in the united states and or let's say north america so it's definitely a proving ground and i still have very

good connections as a big company multimatic in in toronto and because of racing we are close so good friend of mine sits over there pascal so linden so it is not you know like it's not like I'm in California and Toronto is off. It's not. I went back with the racing over many, many years, IMSA racing, to more sport. So I was with the friends. I visited Volkswagen Canada, my former place in Scarborough on Eglinton Avenue. So it's a nice memory, like I said, you know, besides the dreadful couple of months.

So Canada ended up being a pit stop on your California dream, right? So, Vinci, I think you had something. California was not on my agenda. I said to the United States, you know, like, I didn't think about California because it was the other side of the continent. But eventually, California came to light in 1969, and I'm still here, and I'm glad that I made that move. So, you know, a lot of people, they come up in motorsport, especially now, they're starting younger and younger and younger. You have to get into motorsport early. how much of how you operate and the standards that you have come from the upbringing that you

had to kind of go through life first before you just kind of jumped into motorsport how does that shape the way you think and operate currently i personally believe you know you have to have some principles you have to have them inside you you know i don't think you can learn principles but you can be influenced in in developing your principles and i have certain stuff what i strongly believe and brought them into my business brought them into my life integrity is very important you know when i say i do i do and i don't give you a thousand excuses why i don't want to do that So what I feel is if people in today's world, the younger ones, and I've seen both types.

I see the ones, you know, they think society owns them something. And you see the other guys, you know, really want to forward what we would like for women's life. And it's a big thing. But I don't think that in the years or in the past years or the past decade, whatever you want to call it, I don't think things change. That was always there. You always had the people who want to thrive, and you had the people, they were sitting there and say, you know, like, hey, life is tough, life is bad, life is here, they blame everybody else but themselves.

And that is, in my opinion, a very, very big thing. It got more on the people, you know, who believe that everybody has something to please them and do things than the people who are striving to be better for their life. but the way like I look at it you see the competition is less overall yeah it's clear you know like the people who want to do something with their life is not as they are not as many

as the ones who think that society owes them something so that's why I said the competition for the people who want to do it is smaller but at the same token it is always depending what is the individual want to do

and like I said before I've seen both sides of the coin What do you think is that one thing that maybe separates those that last in this business, in this sport, and those that don't? Is there something that you maybe see or that you look at or that you can tell, like, okay, that person's going to last and this person won't? It is definitely, if you go back, and it's a hard thing to say, but, you know, it depends how you grew up, how were your parents, how was your home, And most important, how are your friends? Your friends influence you when you grow up. And that sets the basis for your life.

If you surround, again, I don't want to sound like a tape recorder here or what, but if you surround yourself with losers, you end up a loser. Yep. You will not convert them. I can tell you that right now. You kind of have to separate and you have to concentrate on the people who want to make something out of their life. In Colombia, we have a saying, Alvin,

and it says, tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are. Yeah, absolutely. I strongly believe it because I have a good story from my side. So when I was 14, I had two friends. They were both 17. So they were older than I was.

And one of them smoked and the other guy did not smoke. But he was a wrestler, you know, like Karski. And he told me, you touch a cigarette, I break your fingers. And that actually, no, really, believe me, that's why I did not smoke. If the other guy would have been a strong guy, I would have started to smoke. So there was nothing, but it didn't influence me. That was just my friends who taught me the right thing.

And that's what I'm trying to say. people how do they grow up how do they look at things because when you are young you know you you try to influence your friends you try to do here and that sometimes brings you into an avenue what is not the right thing to do for your later life yeah it's so true i want to i want to bring us now to california because when you when you landed in california you started working with Vasek Polak legendary racing operation car dealer but there there's something I read in your book that fascinated me and it's that your test to to be even be worthy of working there involved three defective the Furman the four cam engines and what did you have to do with those with those

three defective engines I had to make one running engine out of it and I have to say that and it goes back again to canada you know like rudy bartling so maybe the people who are listening to me the older people he got me involved into racing and he had the race car where that type of engine was in and we hold on we worked a little bit on the engine but we never really took it apart and so i knew a little bit what it was but i did not i did not uh i was not as fluent as i was hoped to be so mr pollack told me that because i have to say that there were the four cam engines from porsche and that's actually the most difficult engine what porsche ever built so he said okay here are three engines you make one out of the engines then we can talk

about you know your future so one of them had a hole in a crankcase big one was full of water and the other one we have parts missing so making a long story short it was not an easy task but somehow i got one engine to run we put in the car started it up it smoked like hell but he said you know it's all old parts so no problem clap my shoulder and that's how i started bollock taking over the racing department that was a big deal the four cam was that that there was a gear driven cam system right there's no belts or anything i didn't want to go into deep what's difficult very difficult engine to build yeah that was uh i believe it was designed by uh ernst firman four months hey very good very good the type 547 right well it was just it was interesting i just

wanted to make sure that's what we were talking about but so it was just very interesting very interesting engine yeah they were defunct and he's like here's a waterlogged one here there And somehow this man, this genius, creates one that actually works. And how quickly, once you landed with Vasek Polak, how quickly were you part of the racing operation and going on the road and the Can-Am racing? Did that happen pretty quickly? Very quickly.

The Can-Am, the Can-Am Club Racing, the thing with Vasek Polak was that he had a racing department, but it was done by Dieter Insenow for my later partner. in the evenings so he he worked during the day as a mechanic and then the evenings took care of the race cars and it was a 911 it was a 904 and a 906 and that's at that time they were pretty heavy race cars from Porsche at that time and when when I saw them and I had to do it it was a challenge but then on the other hand you know like I have to say I always like challenges in life and try to make the best out of it so we went club racing with mentor here in in the western

united states and then in 1970 we won the b sports driver championship in atlanta georgia from the all the united states and then mr pollack said okay listen you go to germany and we're going to do a 917 program in a can in 1971 so i went to germany in october october of 1970 ate there at the porsche factory around the porsche factory of course and i learned all the 917 stuff and it was very interesting and set the base actually for my for my relationships with uh always uh later uh people at Porsche AG in in Weissach in Zuffenhausen Weissach so I want to talk about that nine the 917 sorry I want to talk about the 917 because in 1973 you had a very very famous driver racing that car the one and only Jody Schechter who was also simultaneously racing

in Formula One and also simultaneously racing in F5000 which we don't see that anymore right that a driver has to do one one discipline and excel at that discipline so you get jody schecter as a driver did you right away know this guy was something special could you see that i i knew him i knew of him you know like because he drove formula 5000 so now that was something i i knew that we had a challenge on our hand because don't forget the wasik product team was two mechanics and myself so as now compared to today's world it is not even discussable but when jody came aboard it was a challenge because you know like he used the car in a tremendous way one of the drivers before what i had meant never did it and we were we really didn't have the spare parts and all that

stuff and the support what jody expected and so we had a challenging season but at the end of the season we sat down and talked about you know the the problems and the issues what we had and came to the conclusion that he invited me to come to england and if i wanted to to spend a season with him at turel so that's jody schecter was a was a guy he is a guy you know like who We stepped in the car and just drove fast, fast. Of course, fast takes material. You know, Mark Donoghue from Penske was exactly the other side. So he was very gentle on the car, but fast, also very fast.

So the two guys, to compare them, and they drove against each other. But I have to say that Mark had the 917 Surdy, our latest edition of the Can-Am car, and Jody was driving a 917-10. So it was a little handicap, you know, from a car, but Jody had some good fights with Mark Donoghue. So it was an interesting year. I learned a lot, and I was very happy that we made up the little arguments that we had during the year with Jody.

We stayed in Cologne for a while, but then, of course, I went over to England and went to Tyrell, but, uh, you know, like he offered Tyrell offered me a job, but the money, what it would take to live there was less than the money what I was making. So then, uh, my wife at that time, you know, we said to her, no, we're not going to do that. So that's how I stayed nicely in Canada and again, in California. Uh, can we talk about Endow for a moment?

Yes. You started up 1975. Arnold and Dieter yeah you you build the 935l you win 24 hours Daytona in 83 um and then you did something interesting in 84 with uh I don't remember exactly but I believe you hired someone from Silicon Valley to uh assess like engine um the engine management system yeah Was that the... Yeah, exactly. But I was jumping now a big step, okay?

I took a big step, didn't I? You did. But that was 962s. They were 962s. So the 962 came first with a Kugel injection pump, and then Porsche changed it to first electronic injection system. And I don't know if you know a little bit about it, but I'm sure that some of the audience will understand that. At that time, we had an EPROM in the ECU unit, and the EPROM is like the brain.

It's like a little tangle with a lot of little pins on the bottom. So that thing controlled the whole thing. The RPM, the mixture, the timing, the throttle angle, everything was running over a little apron, and it had the programs in it. So people, when the thing came, when the ECU started, including us, we increased the engine. We had a CC, we did different camshafts, we had turbochargers,

But we could not change the parameters. And that always bugged me. So then I, yeah, but then Porsche, you know, you needed a listing. That's what it's called, where the addresses, the individual addresses where you can change the hex number. So I'm going to go a little bit into detail because that's, I have to do that. Love it. And hex numbers, you know what that is, 1 to 15. so you have to go from a hex number to a decimal number change it change the parameter then you can

do but you need the address where you want to do that and Porsche would not would not give me the listing because they said that's provider you can make a lot of mistakes so we won't do that and that's when I went to Silicon Valley I make a long story short and a lot of time about seven months to break the code or to not break the code but to have a code where i could at least at the start change the the mixture and the timing according to the boost level and the throttle level and that was major and that was our unfair advantage what we had in the beginning you know with Holbrook, Holbrook Racing, with Al Holbrook, Leuvenbrook Car, and then later on, of course,

our customers, our Endile customers all had that. And it was a major, major step into the performance and into the advancement of the 962. I think a lot of people don't know. So let's let them know. Endile basically started because of a Rolodex. What happened to the Rolodex and why did that, yeah, people don't know this. People should know this is a wonderful, I think at the time probably not wonderful, but now a wonderful story.

Yeah, okay, let me start there. So in 1973, the SECA kind of was afraid of the 9-17 because Danny Yu dominated the Can-Am season with the new 9-17 and the 9-17-30. So what they did cleverly, but in my opinion stupidly, was that they reduced the amount of fuel what we could use. And the turbo, our 917 turbos, they used gasoline a tremendous amount. So that means that our cars were out of contention. And we stopped. So the whole Porsche effort stopped in the Can-Am.

And of course, Pollack, our thing, we stopped also. And then Mr. Pollack said, you go to the street. I said, street, you know, that's something, you know, no, no, no, hold it, stop, not the street. He said, you do old cars, you know, historic cars, old cars. And I said, no, old cars, I have no interest in it. You know, like my life is in the present and in the future. So I go to the street. And he said, you have no knowledge about Porsche street cars.

I said, believe me, I have auto electric and 90% of the auto mechanics have no idea about electric. So let me do it on my own. I went down there, and everything went well. I hooked up with Dieter, and we were a team. We did very, very good. And Arnold was, at that time, the parts manager. So it was all started there. And then one day, I came, and we were very successful in making money

because we worked flat rate. I don't know how you do that. It's 45% for the mechanic, 55% for the owner. That's how we had it. So no work, no money, lots of work, and very good, lots of money. So then Mr. Pollack would always say, you make too much money, you make too much money. But it was not in a funny way. You know, like he didn't like that I worked on a streetcar because I went against his wish.

I have to say that. But we were successful because I always told him, I said, Mr. Pollack, when I make money, you make money. So I don't understand why you complain this. You know, there's no comebacks, everything is well. So then one day I came and my Rolodex, and I hope that people understand what that is, all my little business cards at that time, Rolodex. So it was gone from my toolbox. So I went up, I went to the service manager, I say, what happened to my Rolodex?

He said, Mr. Pollack came and took it. So I went up in his office, knocked, got in. I said, Mr. Pollack, can I have my Rolodex back? He said, let me tell you one thing very clear. That's not your Rolodex. That's my Rolodex. I said, okay. It's correct because I bought it from his money.

Okay. See, that's again the principle that comes in. You know what I mean? It was clear for me. There was no argument. So I said, okay, then let me copy some important numbers that I have. Now you can't do that. And I walked around and I walked out.

And at that moment, I tell you that the idea was born to go into my own business. Yeah. That's exactly it. And then I approached Arnold first. And, of course, Arnold, he had a company car. He had two little kids. And, you know, like me, not really having that much experience in Porsche streetcars, but I got him on board. And then we talked to Dieter, and then Dieter came aboard, too.

and in May of 1975, we started Endow. We quit and we started Endow. Well, the world is lucky. The world is lucky that happened because we got Endow and really if you were racing in the 80s and you were a Porsche racer, you would have touched their car, really. If you have any success, right, especially the 935

and what Vincenzo mentioned, the 962, legendary iconic car just just so people remember Bobby Rahal raced that car Jochen Maas raced that car Hans-Joachim Stuck raced that car and someone that we are sort of six degrees separated from Derek Bell because his son Justin Bell was a friend he's a friend of the podcast so you really that was you Alvin like do you realize that that is the most iconic era of Porsche racing in IMSA in North America and that was you it's pretty incredible to you started in your uncle's little shop in in Essen and you you did I read your book by the way you know a book is very fancy when it has a box it comes in a box that's how you know a book is very fancy that you found it

I mean, it's so old, very, very fat. It's a shout out to Trevor Arthur, CEO of Porsche Canada, who has loaned me this book because it's impossible. It's impossible to find your book. Good luck to anyone. I've been trying to find it. I can't. Tell us about, I just want your thoughts and feelings around the 962.

Is that sort of the highlight of your racing career? Just touch on that for a bit. Highlight? Now, let's say that we are, first of all, I want to say it is not I, it's not Alvin. It is Dieter and Arnold. We are partners. And all three partners, you know, definitely carried Endile and made Endile what it was. So maybe I was in the front, but believe me, the people in the back did a hell of a job.

So I want to make that clear. It's always, and when you read my book, it's also that you hardly see I. You always see we or us, because that's another principle. We come back to the front, and then, you know, in the back, after we finish, where I come from. So, 962, yes, the 962s were our highlights, what made actually the name Ender big, but the 935 started it also. And then, in 19, we had the Hallward racing team,

with Lohenbroecker was our main thing because Errol Horvath was the connection to Weissach. And my connection to Weissach was that the people I learned in 1970, see, they all moved up in Holzingen in the 80s. They had some good positions in the Weissach Racing Department. So it was a kind of a reunion, and it helped me a lot, you know, in the communication side.

And I have to say that the 962 was a car from Porsche, tremendous, Norbert Singer and the team built it. And what happened here is we had the combination where rich people could hire a professional driver and the two of them could win races. And that was perfect. That was never done again. And I've talked to many people, you know,

why don't we start that again? But then the environment changed, the time changed, you know, the whole racing scene changed. So in today's world, it is very, very difficult to get people with money and a professional driver to win races. It's almost impossible. So that's sad, but that also made the highlight of the GTP sport in the 80s at IMSA and set this foundation for Porsche 962s here. Very, very clear. 80s were our year, our decade. This is more, I guess, maybe philosophical, but...

Your sound is getting very low. Soft. Oh, I, I was going to say, I want to, this might be a little bit more philosophical, this question, and maybe, um, how we talk about being remembered, loudly showed the book. We talked about that. Um, how do you think about what gets remembered over your career versus what actually matters to you? You know, certain things are the only thing that gets talked about versus maybe in your head, you're like, okay, people are going to talk about this moment, but that's not really what matters. How do you, how do you look at that? How do you think about

what gets remembered and what matters for me and i'm coming back again that is the way like i am and that means i'm honest i have a lot of integrity and that is what i like for two people to remember me and i can tell you i have a lot of people from the 70s still in contact mechanics owners drivers and today we still are in contact we still talk to each other and i hear all the time you know you were a very very tough nut to crack you were very hard on us you you really you know you pushed forward and but we liked it we were successful and as a person you know like if people knew you it is it was a pleasure to work with you and that to me is the most important part because all the results and all the success everything again you never do it

by yourself it's always as a team and that is what I like to be remembered and I'm on the way to the best way to do it very satisfied with myself I'll tell you something that I hear sort of in Porsche executives see if you agree with this that that you were a sort of perfect bridge between a lot of things at Porsche, between the air-cooled cars and the water-cooled cars, between analog and digital, the factory side and the privateer side, and even between Germany and America, because you dominated both. And really, that sort of is reflected in your legacy, I think, that you're not just one thing. That's why they call you the godfather or the OG is another term used for you which I personally love because you you are so much in so many ways for them so I just

wanted you to know that that's how people see you as that as a as a connector between so many aspects of the business which is why probably you became the CEO of the motorsport Porsche Motorsport North America because I don't think there was anyone else who had all of that in them I think the only thing you didn't do was race cars because I think you yourself knew that wasn't your biggest talent You are absolutely correct, and I'm very, very pleased about your analysis or your statement. That's exactly what it is. And I had the talent, and I come back again to electric and mechanic that set the foundation. And again, it was my personal drive because in the EPROMs, you know, that's what I mean,

everybody said that can't be done, and I said can't be done is not in my vocabulary. and that's and like I said I have a very very good and be jumping now a little bit ahead for the last three years was the 963 program when I came out

see I was still involved and that was over 80 and I can tell you there's nobody at Porsche who still works after 80 in a position or in a consulting thing what i'm what i've done i'm very very proud about it you should be you still show up to

rentsport right you still show up and you still pull out your tools yeah yeah rent rent yeah rents for not rents for not rents for what we have in august we have the the speed weeks in laguna seca and yes i will still show up there for three days and uh you know like if there's a problem i still do but mostly on the electronic side either guide the guys or look at the data and make an analysis and give suggestion what to do yeah but that is that's that's good and i'll tell you yeah you need it when you get older you have to get your brain engaged that's the most important part and it still ticks it still works so i'm uh still i go up again in august and in the rent sport you know the last rent sport in laguna i was the co not chairman what is it is patrick long

what is the yes yes what is the the what's the the head guys of uh i don't know is it the chairman there is a title was you and patrick long i can't remember you know i forgot i forgot what it was so porsche used the patrick and myself to be the the co i forgot it so but i was very good It was very rewarding. And I have to tell you a little bit about the way when I retired the first time and how it went on from then. So in 2000, let me see, in 2003, my contract was over. And what happened there is I liked working at Porsche Motorsport.

But what happened at Porsche, they started to reorganize their business side. So that means we had controlling, we had budgets, we had everything, what is correct, a correct way. But the biggest problem was that Porsche cast North America with over 150 people and, you know, Porsche AG. So they had one system on all companies. And I was maybe, or very, like 12 people, 15 people. And, you know, like I was at the racetrack during the weekends. I worked at PM&A during the week, so there was no time. And then there came the demand, you have to fill out here, you have to do here, you have to do here, forms.

I had no problems with the business side, budget, forms, and, and, and. But it just got on my nerves because the questions what they would do is maybe for a big company or not a small company. So it got on my nerves a little bit and I said, you know what, who needs it? So when I told them I'm not going to renew my contract and then in 2000, it would have been over, 2004, January, and I found a successor in 2003. So everything was working right. And we had a beautiful party in Weissach, our year-end party. And I got a very nice goodbye and thank you and everything else. And then during the party, a board member, Mr. Dierheimer, came to me and he said, we have to talk.

I said, okay. So I come back on Monday. So I walked into his office on Monday and he said, you can't quit. And I said, wait a minute. I just, you know, my successor is there. I said, no, no, he said, not there. But we need you. We need your experience in the States to think about.

So I came home. I told my wife, we're in Germany. I said, strange, strange meeting here. And she gave, she said to me, listen, do whatever you think you have to do and what you want to do. And I thought about it. Next morning I came in and I said, okay, I know what I would like to do and where I can help is the BOP, balance of performance. it's a very very critical thing but just in the beginning at that time and i liked it but i never really had the time to execute it and that's what i told him my balance of performance is perfect

and the next thing is you know like uh help the the new guy i said that's no problem because i found him i trained him and uwe brettel by the way good guy he ran the super cup so it was not a guy who had no idea about racing and then the last was that to be uh to be available to him if he needs some special question or special task so we shook hands and he said okay and go to the hr department and get a contract and i told him no i don't want to have a contract so he said what do you mean you don't want to have a contract that's what everybody wants No, I said, not me. Because I believe in the things.

I want to be my, first of all, I want to be my boy on my own mind. I don't want to have a burden on my shoulders. I don't need the safety. So I said, you know, like the time is when I cannot deliver any more my performance. Then we shake hands and we say we had a good time. Thank you very much. He looked at me. And then I said, but, he said, what do you mean, but?

I said, the same thing can happen on your side because, you know, like you're going to be changed because, you know, like that, the higher you go, the faster you move. So I said, and then somebody comes in there, what I don't like, and I have to work with him together, you know, for the next remainder of the contract. So I said, it's both sides. social cancer that was in the end of 2023 and now is what we have today 26 three not 23 2003 2026 and i'm still working as a consultant to porsche motorsport that's incredible you mentioned just now a few minutes ago laguna seca so i want to know how much you follow IMSA and if you saw the JDC Miller Motorsport win and sort of I think the the spiritual successor of the 962 the 963 and that last lap pass of the Cadillac uh Laurent Heinrich how much

did you follow that I still I'm still involved I still it was the Penske people and with Porsche Germany I'm still in contact I have to race I follow the race I have a special software for the timing and for strategy and everything else oh yeah so no no no i still do that i still do what i have here yeah yeah exactly that's that's exactly what i've done for the last three years and uh i love it it's a it's a it's a thing where i go and i say you know like that's my life that's my past that's my friends that's my passion and i'm in a lucky position to uh still be involved on the porsche penske side and a porsche motorsport so what more do i want it's a good i want to know if there's any race you haven't won yet that you really would still like a shot

at winning uh can i come back to uh john church you know like the number five car okay so john church was uh or is a porsche customer team for the 963 awanuka and it is very very difficult in the GTP environment to succeed as a customer car. What I told you before was a good driver and a guy with money or sponsorship, very hard. So the win in Laguna Seca was rewarding, was very nice. I immediately sent him a nice text message and I was very happy that that happened.

And the Penske, even the Penske guys, didn't have the speed at that moment. But a lot of things you have to understand, too, and I don't want to go into details, have to do with balance of performance. Yeah, we had John Doonan on the podcast. We were in Daytona. IMSA brought us out to Daytona for the 24 hours, and we shot a live podcast with John in his bus in the middle of the infield during the race. It was fantastic. and obviously he's a very big believer in in balance of performance i also spoke a few weeks ago before sebring with tom blomkist who i very much admire also talked about bop i know a lot

about balance of performance we talk about it a lot so obviously you're a big proponent of it it seems yes let me let me say that it's a balance of performance when it started out you know like The adjustment, what organizing bodies would need, and I want to be very broad. Let's say we had three knobs, what you would turn, like performance, restrictor, the weight, aerodynamics, small things, and that was it. Okay, so you would try to balance the cars, because why did we need BOP? We had started out with a 911 ourselves, with a 911, rear engine car. Then we had what was only three litre, three and a half litres, CCs, okay? But then we had V8s, we had front-engine cars, we had mid-engine cars, we had race cars.

You know, a lot of stuff, cars you couldn't balance anymore really by, you know, like making only small changes. So you needed more changes. And that's what evolved over the years. and then the algorithm came in, then the data acquisition came in, all that stuff we didn't have when we started. And now I think that the BOP job is very, very difficult

because of the variety of the cars, everything else, you know, like, and then I said, maybe 10 years or one, my sentence was very easy. You could give me a million dollars, And I will not be the head of the BOP division at IMSA. So my respect to them, my respect to them. It's almost an impossible job.

And they do actually a good job, as you can do. And I wish them everything. We talk, we do things. I still see the BOP side from the GTP cars, because otherwise it gets too complicated. And it is not an easy task to balance the cars out. I can tell you that. But it is needed.

I'm sure. But it's needed. There's certain jobs that for sure I wouldn't want in motorsport, and that for sure is one definitely. It's a very tough job because people feel very strongly about it in both directions, right? It can be very polarizing, so no thank you. You're smart to not want to get too involved.

The thing is, in BOP, it's a very, very simple thing. You never win because, you know, like whatever change you make, You have a guy who smiles and a guy who cusses. So it's always that off balance, what is in between, a nice balance. That's what BOP is supposed to bring. It's almost impossible because of the variety of cars, variety of teams, variety of fear, variety of tires. You know, a lot of factors would have to be reconciliated. It's difficult.

I don't think I got an answer to. Is there any race left out there? you've won almost every important race in the world is there anyone that you're like man i wish i could get a would have won this race or any specific track that was always kind of a demon for you yeah in sports car racing you know like we have one track and that is lamar so i have been in lamar with customer cars i have been in lamar with the factory i have been in lamar you know like things and we won races with the factory but it was not porsche motorsport from here the united states oh would i like to see a race win yeah i would like to i would have liked to see a race

win from porsche penske in le mans yes but that is now out of the question because of the changes what was done this year have been done. Yeah, it's such a shame because Philippe Nasser and Le Mans just make sense. Yeah, Le Mans, but again, you know, like it is something what my contribution, I've worked with the factory, you know, like to do that. But, you know, like it's not the same,

like if you are really heavily involved and Porsche Penske is the same, that's kind of my team. I know the people. I have a very, very warm relationship with them. I mean, I don't think so. Unfortunately, that didn't work. Hopefully, in time, it will come back. But I don't know. You know, there's a lot of parameters to be met and to look at it. So I think the outlook in the next year is very dim.

Just to take it on a lighter side, right now at your house, in your garage, in your driveway, how many Porsches are parked there? One. One? Which one? An ST, 911 ST. Nice. That's your daily driver, your everyday car? Oh, no, no, that's a very, very special car. Exactly. It's a car that you don't drive every day.

No, no, no, I'm joking because it's very fancy. Yeah, no, no, that is a car. I always wanted to have a 911, and when that car came out, you know, as my own, I had a 356 before, so I bought a 356, and then I got the 911 right now, and that's enough for me. It's perfect. So you just leave, do you look at it every day? You polish it up?

No. Yeah, you're correct. It's undercover, but at the same token, you know, I take it out. That's a sin. over three and a half thousand miles because i do a porsche club america pca you know events but you know usually not like time trial or then i'm not new but up to the country roads you know like a like a little rally stuff that i do i love it and my wife comes with me if you believe it or not perfect so i i know that i i think i read in your book that the first sort of love of your life

car was a Citroën, right? Was that the first sort of baby that you really loved and adored? No, that's a good story. No, no, my first car was a Volkswagen Cabrio. That was my first car. But I think the first one you loved and did things to and tweaked was the Citroën, no? That's correct, was the Citroën. But the problem what I had in that, I don't know if you know the ds19 i looked it up after i read it in your book i'll be honest i didn't know it before of technology i'll tell you but but i did not realize when i bought the car used of course that somebody put motor oil in a hydraulic oil tank and slowly but surely you know like the shock absorbers the gas pedal the shifting everything kind of failed so it was a big big

task, but I got everything fixed, and then finally I sold it. So, yeah, my sweet trailer. A good part. So, what other, and I appreciate that obviously you are the godfather of the OG Porsche guy, what other car brands do you have an affinity for that you would drive

as your daily driver? What other brands do you like? I have a Genesis. There you go. Breaking news, people. He drives a Genesis. G80. Yeah, for daily driving. I used to have a lexus 240 ls and i'll tell you these both cars they are from a financial standpoint you know from buying from reliability from things i i love the lexus and i love now my genesis g80 beautiful cars

absolutely and and um when i just want to start wrapping it up a little bit because i want to be mindful of your time typically when we have drivers on we ask two questions and i appreciate you're not a driver but i still you're almost a driver you're the closest to not to being a driver that you can't be without being a driver of of all the tracks you have raced at in the world which one was always your favorite where you always looked forward to going to this track for whatever personal reason alvin that it represented to you if you had to name one What track is that? Elkhart Lake, North America, Wisconsin.

Nice. That's fantastic. We go there again in August. And I was the first race from Canada with Ludwig Heimrath. I don't know if that means something to you, but he was a Canadian driver and team owner and owner. So we went there together, and I fell in love, and that was in 1966, and I fell in love with Elkhart Lake.

and that is definitely just one answer quick answer quick answer and then and then the final question that i always like to ask drivers but and i want to ask you because you've worked with so many just put aside trophies and championships and hardware and success or not because we all know that success in motorsport often depends on timing and getting the right ride at the right time if you put all that aside of the drivers you've worked with who was the most naturally gifted just natural talent natural talent i would say uh jody schecter because it's a natural talent yes jody schecter all right there you go he had it they had it and i think he proved it on the racetrack he did well he was a 1979 world champion yeah okay i was was 1973 three you know like he

kept on going. He had it. He was a natural guy. Like I said before, he didn't need a lot of adjustment. He just used the car and did the best that he could do. Fantastic. Alvin, it is an absolute pleasure to speak to the OG, the godfather. What you've accomplished starting, like I said, in your uncle's, working on your uncle's buses and trucks in Essen, to becoming the mechanic, to coming to Canada to going to California throughout so many aspects of racing and then becoming president CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America it is impossible to underplay what you have done globally for Porsche and I know you maybe many people may not recognize your face but man you've touched every aspect of the business so it is a delight to have been

able to speak to you today thank you so much for joining us what an absolute pleasure and I hope to see you on a track soon. Okay, hold on. I want to say one thing. And I achieved a lot of things on the racing side, but at the same token, I have a beautiful family. I have a son and a daughter, Vanessa and Mark,

and I have two grandkids. Jodi is Mark's wife. I have Ashlyn. I have Peyton. And I'm telling you, my family, I'm very proud of. and you know like it's the private life is normally and it unfortunately on my side you know it took the upbringing of my kids I really didn't spend a lot of time because I was at the racetrack or I was at the shop so that is something what is on the negative side but then seeing the

whole thing what my wife you know you know raised and did everything so I'm very very proud of my family and i want to make that thing and i'm afraid of my friends i mean you know like it's i tell you that's uh that's what life is all about family friendship and health i'm glad that you touched on because i think that the unsung hero of your story is really yolande and her allowing you to pursue this dream and not giving you a hard time about it and not putting an end to it so i'm very glad that you that you mentioned your family because they matter so much to your story. You know, I always say maybe, maybe, maybe on my professional side, I would have achieved what I achieved, but no family. So see, now I have the professional side and at the same time,

family. And that is definitely a thank you to my wife, Yolande. Lovely. Merci, Yolande. Merci. Thank you.