Sport

Motorsport

In the USA, the Porsche customer teams WeatherTech Racing and Pfaff Motorsports made an impression in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in March, winning both GT classes in the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Formula E: Porsche setting course for the future
The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E team made significant progress in the 2020/2021 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and was one of the most consistent teams in the second half of the season. The Porsche 99X Electric cars regularly scored points in the face of stiff competition. The world’s first electric racing series again featured a very strong line-up of 12 teams.

Pascal Wehrlein was signed as a new driver for the 2020/2021 season. In the second season featuring the Porsche 99X Electric, he and his teammate André Lotterer delivered sporting highlights again and again. Wehrlein took pole position in Puebla, Mexico. The team from Weissach also clinched two podium positions, with Lotterer placing second in Valencia and Wehrlein finishing in third place in Rome. The team achieved its best result in New York City, with Wehrlein and Lotterer placing fourth and fifth respectively in race 11.

In the team world championship, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E team finished in eighth place. Wehrlein came eleventh in the driver standings in his first Formula E season with Porsche. He picked up points in nine races, making him the best German driver. Lotterer scored points in six races and finished 17th overall. 

The competition in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship races was tough. This stands as a testament to the closeness of the drivers’ performances – ahead of the season final in Berlin, 18 of the 24 drivers were still theoretically in the running for the championship title. One of them was Pascal Wehrlein driving for Porsche. 

Porsche set course for the future in Formula E back in March. The 2022/2023 Formula E season will mark the beginning of a new era with the further developed Gen3 racing cars, and the sports car manufacturer officially announced in March that it would be participating.

In the 49th edition of the classic 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, Kévin Estre, Michael Christensen and Matteo Cairoli finished first in their Porsche 911 GT3 R. This success rounded off the celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the Manthey team based in the Eifel.

GT sport: world championship title narrowly missed out on
Porsche will remember the 2021 GT motorsport season for a long time as it experienced a rapid succession of highs and lows. In the USA, the Porsche customer teams WeatherTech Racing and Pfaff Motorsports made an impression in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in March, winning both GT classes in the 12 Hours of Sebring. They then repeated this success in August in the eighth race on the 6.515-kilometre Road America course in the state of Wisconsin. Together with its customer teams, the company celebrated the perfect finish to the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season in early November. 

In the GTD class and the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, Porsche won the manufacturers’ title in the final held on the Road Atlanta course. The Pfaff Motorsports team with its regular drivers Laurens Vanthoor of Belgium and Zacharie Robichon of Canada won both the team and drivers’ championship titles with the Porsche 911 GT3 R. The Wright Motorsports team clinched all three titles in the Endurance Cup comprising the endurance races in Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen and the Petit Le Mans in the state of Georgia. In the GTLM class, WeatherTech Racing achieved a one-two victory with the 911 RSR in the last race.

In the USA, the Porsche customer teams WeatherTech Racing and Pfaff Motorsports made an impression in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in March, winning both GT classes in the 12 Hours of Sebring.

“What a wonderful way to finish the season,” said a delighted Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Motorsport. “Porsche’s strong customer teams secured all three titles in both the GTD class and the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. There was also a class victory for the 911 RSR on the occasion of its last appearance in the North American racing series. And on the Friday, Wright Motorsports won the manufacturers’, drivers’ and team titles in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport. This is as good as it gets!”

The start of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, proved to be a success too – the Porsche works team masterfully finished in first place in the hard-fought GTE Pro class with the 911 RSR sporting start number 92. Works driver Kévin Estre had already given cause for celebration by performing a record lap in the final qualifying session. Estre and Neel Jani in start number 92 scored another win on the high-speed course in Monza, Italy. This success in August was extra special. The drivers and, above all, the Manthey crew based at the Nürburgring put in an impressive performance under the most challenging conditions – at the time, everyone’s minds were on the flood disaster in Germany, in particular as there were Manthey employees who were directly affected.

WEC, Le Mans, August: Porsche achieved a podium finish in the GTE Pro class of the 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans. The works drivers Kévin Estre of France, Neel Jani of Switzerland and Michael Christensen of Denmark finished in third place in the Porsche 911 RSR bearing start number 92. Its sister car, number 91 driven by Gianmaria Bruni of Italy, Richard Lietz of Austria and Frédéric Makowiecki of France, finished the fourth race of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season in fourth place. The internal battle between the two works cars to secure the last podium position was decided approximately an hour before the end of the race, when car number 91 slid off on the last chicane and had to have its rear repaired and its brakes renewed.

“Our team put in a flawless and fantastically feisty performance,” explained Fritz Enzinger, who was Vice President of Motorsport at the time. “There was unfortunately something lacking in our performance for us to have any serious say in the competition for the class win. The podium position for start number 92 is nevertheless a great reward for the passionate work of our employees at the racetrack and at our site in Weissach. Thanks to everyone who played a part in this achievement.”

WEC, Bahrain, November: the Porsche GT team finished the final race of the FIA Endurance World Championship (WEC) in second and fourth place. In the 8 Hours of Bahrain, the Porsche 911 RSR with start number 92 and driven by Kévin Estre of France, Neel Jani of Switzerland and Michael Christensen of Denmark was deservedly in the lead in the thrilling end stages, putting it on course for the title, but was then clipped by a Ferrari and spun. Race Control did not penalise the competitor car. The identical, approximately 515 PS sister car driven by Gianmaria Bruni of Italy, Richard Lietz of Austria and Frédéric Makowiecki of France finished the sixth and final race of the season in fourth place in the GTE Pro class. At the end of the endurance racing year, Porsche came second in the manufacturers’ championship. There was also success for the customer teams Dempsey-Proton Racing and Project 1, both of which got a 911 RSR onto the podium in the GTE Am category.

Nürburgring 24 Hours, June: the customer team Manthey scored its seventh overall win in the 24-hour race held at the Nürburgring. In the 49th edition of this classic endurance race, works drivers Kévin Estre of France, Michael Christensen of Denmark and Matteo Cairoli of Italy crossed the finishing line first in the Porsche 911 GT3 R with start number 911. This success rounded off the celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the team based in the Eifel. Manthey extended its track record as the most successful team with its seventh win in the 24-hour race. It was also the 13th time a Porsche racing car had triumphed. The customer team Huber Motorsport achieved a commanding win in the Pro-Am class with an over 500 PS 911. The Saturday evening race had to be interrupted for more than 14 hours due to the weather. There was therefore only around nine and a half hours of actual driving time.

eFuels: Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup successfully invests hope in renewable fuels
The Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup introduced renewable fuels at the start of the 2021 season. The international one-make cup will initially use advanced second-generation biofuels. This will already considerably reduce CO₂ emissions. The plan is then for fully synthetic fuels – otherwise known as eFuels – to be used in the 2022 season. In this flagship project, Porsche and its project partner ExxonMobil will test the suitability for use of renewable liquid fuels under tough motorsport conditions. The new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with its high-revving six-cylinder boxer engine serves as the ideal test lab for the Esso Renewable Racing Fuels – its approximately 375 kW (510 PS) 4.0-litre engine has already been tested for use with renewable fuels. The aim is to gather important experience for their potential further development with a view to using them in production vehicles in the future. The Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup will be held during European races of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board responsible for Research and Development: “eFuels complement our drive strategy wonderfully. They allow our customers to drive cars with internal combustion engines and plug-in hybrids almost entirely CO₂-neutrally. By collaborating with ExxonMobil, we are able to test the eFuels under demanding conditions on the racetrack. This will take us one step closer to a marketable and CO₂-reduced eFuel that can replace conventional fuels.” Porsche and ExxonMobil are adopting a two-stage testing strategy. A bio-based blended fuel was used in 2021. The advanced biofuel proportion is sourced from food waste products. Other fuels are blended in to achieve the required knock resistance and combustion behaviour. Depending on production capacities, the second step could be taken at the end of the 2022 season, namely introduction of the eFuels from the Haru Oni pilot project in Chile. This involves hydrogen being combined with carbon dioxide extracted from the air to create methanol. CO₂ emissions could be reduced by up to 85 per cent¹ with this eFuel-based Esso Renewable Racing Fuel if it meets the current fuel standard following the necessary blending. In the pilot project, Porsche and ExxonMobil are expediting the development and the potential future market maturity of synthetic fuels together with other international partners.

¹ The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions stated here relates to a comparison of the calculated product carbon footprint (PCF) of the renewable components in the PMSC racing fuel and a baseline value of 94 grams of CO₂e/MJ as per the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive. The emission reduction of up to 85 per cent due to renewable instead of conventional components is based on PCF calculations as per ISO 14067 (well-to-wheel consideration throughout the fuel’s value chain). The emissions taken into account are those related to raw materials, production, transport and combustion during the manufacture of the blend mentioned here featuring renewable components. A functional unit of 1 MJ of fuel was used for the comparison..

LMDh

“We are delighted to have been able to secure Team Penske for this collaboration. For the first time in the history of Porsche Motorsport, our company will be represented in the world’s two biggest endurance racing series by a global team.” Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board

Global partnership in the LMDh programme
Porsche Motorsport and Team Penske agreed on close cooperation regarding the appearances of the new LMDh vehicle from 2023. The successful US team will manage the vehicle’s works appearances in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC) in the US in collaboration with the experts from Weissach. Both racing series will each feature two of the spectacular LMDh prototypes competing for wins in the series’ top classes under the name Porsche Penske Motorsport. The contract concluded by the sports car manufacturer from Stuttgart and the US racing team founded in 1966 will run for a number of years. A declaration to this effect was signed by Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG Oliver Blume, Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board responsible for Research and Development, and Roger Penske, Chairman of Team Penske. 

“We are delighted to be collaborating with Team Penske,” explained Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG, at the contract signing. “For the first time in the history of Porsche Motorsport, our company will be represented in the world’s two biggest endurance racing series by a global team. We are therefore establishing a team base on both sides of the Atlantic. This will create optimum structures for competing for overall wins in, for example, Le Mans, Daytona or Sebring.” From 2023, the LMDh vehicles will represent the pinnacle of endurance racing together with what are known as Hypercars (LMH). The prototypes will also be put to use by customer teams in both championships in their first year. The cars weighing around just 1,000 kilograms and based on an LMP2 chassis are accelerated by a 500 kW (680 PS) hybrid drive.

Tennis

Seven of the world’s top 10 female players headed to Stuttgart to participate in the 44th edition of the long-standing Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 
The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix offered tennis fans a slice of normality once again during the pandemic. Although no spectators were allowed to attend the guest appearance of the world’s top players in women’s tennis at the Porsche-Arena in Stuttgart, Porsche made it possible for those interested in tennis to nonetheless enjoy an extensive and thrilling tournament experience thanks to comprehensive multimedia and interactive services. 

The players got the message too, with seven of the world’s top 10 female players heading to Stuttgart to participate in the 44th edition of this long-standing tournament. World number one Ashleigh Barty attended for the first time and absolutely did justice to her position as favourite to win at the Porsche-Arena. A day after her 25th birthday, she became the first Australian to win the singles final, beating Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and winning a Porsche Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo. Barty, who subsequently also won Wimbledon, then additionally won the doubles title with her partner Jennifer Brady (USA). 

The last person to achieve this feat of winning two titles in a day was the American Lindsay Davenport in 2001, when the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix was still held in Filderstadt.

The Aces for Charity campaign has been an integral part of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix for years. Porsche usually donates 100 euros to a good cause for every ace served during the tournament. But in view of the special situation, the company doubled this to 200 euros. The money raised was donated to the Agapedia Foundation and the Baden-Württemberg Sports Federation, who used it to offer additional sports opportunities and activities for children and young people in order to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. 

Porsche was partner to the WTA Finals for the seventh time since 2014. The sports car manufacturer was represented on Centre Court by its subsidiary Porsche Latin America and the Porsche Centre Guadalajara and in the Public Village by a small exhibition.

Porsche Race to the WTA Finals
Ashleigh Barty also had the edge in the Porsche Race to the WTA Finals, the official qualifying ranking for the prestigious season-ending women’s tennis tournament. This was the seventh time since 2014 that Porsche was partner to the WTA Finals. The showdown of the season’s eight most successful singles players and doubles partners was moved at short notice from Shenzhen in China to Guadalajara, Mexico. The singles final held in front of an enthusiastic crowd was won by Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza, securing her the coveted Billie Jean King Trophy. The doubles competition was won by the Czech Olympic champions Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova. Porsche was visible on Centre Court with its subsidiary Porsche Latin America and the Porsche Centre Guadalajara and was represented in the Public Village by a small exhibition.

Porsche supported two new WTA tournaments in Germany as the official automobile partner with an exclusive Porsche shuttle service. The bett1open in Berlin and the Bad Homburg Open both had successful premieres. Played on grass courts as preparation for Wimbledon, they proved to be valuable additions to the global WTA tour. The tournament in Berlin was won by the Russian Liudmila Samsonova. In Bad Homburg, Porsche brand ambassador Angelique Kerber secured her first tournament victory since winning Wimbledon in 2018. Her Porsche Team Germany colleague Andrea Petkovic likewise won a WTA title, claiming victory in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Nurturing promising talent
As the exclusive automobile partner of the WTA and the WTA Finals, Porsche also sponsored the WTA tournaments in Lyon (France), St Petersburg (Russia), Cincinnati (USA) and Linz (Austria) as well as both events held in Cluj-Napoca (Romania). The company supported Porsche Team Germany in the Billie Jean King Cup as a premium partner to the German Tennis Federation (DTB). Led by Porsche brand ambassador Angelique Kerber, the team competed in the final round in Prague of the event contested by the top 12 countries. Two promising up-and-coming players from the Porsche Talent Team, Jule Niemeier and Nastasja Schunk, made their successful debuts in the most important women’s team tennis competition. The Porsche Junior Team is another important component of Porsche’s successful promotion of young talent. Here, talented school-age players are offered better training conditions and more intensive support at home.

Artistic photography project
The brand ambassadors Angelique Kerber, Julia Görges and Maria Sharapova lent their faces to Porsche to boost its profile in tennis – quite literally as they featured in Court Supremes, a spectacular photography project of Porsche Central and Eastern Europe, Porsche AG and the world-famous photographer Radka Leitmeritz. The project is an artistic homage to women’s tennis and to players who have dominated the sport for decades. In addition to the three brand ambassadors, other winners of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix to be the subject of photos were the legendary player Martina Navratilova and Petra Kvitova. The Prague-based photographer’s aim is to present a different view of some of the tennis world’s successful women players. Fans can access the artistic photos online at www.porsche-tennis.com/court-supremes. 

Back in the top 10
Angelique Kerber made an impression both on and off the court this year. She made it back into the top 10 world ranking with her win at the Bad Homburg Open, which she helped organise, and her semi-final appearances in Wimbledon and Cincinnati. She also enjoyed the limelight in the last episode in 2021 of the Porsche podcast, her involvement in the Porsche campaign The Art of Drive and a photo story in Bunte Quarterly. 

Julia Görges returned to her old stamping ground – the sensational winner of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in 2011 moved around the Porsche-Arena working as a social media reporter for Porsche’s tennis channels. Six months after her retirement, she conducted interesting interviews with her former fellow tennis players for tennis fans. Maria Sharapova likewise put in a return appearance at the long-standing tournament in Stuttgart. The three-time winner took part in the virtual opening ceremony.

Golf

Porsche and Golf – long-standing ties 
Porsche’s engagement in golf goes back a good three decades and is founded on the combination of two passions that result in a special community. The company initiated the Porsche Golf Cup in Germany back in 1988. This exclusive series of amateur tournaments for customers has experienced international growth in the course of its more than 30 years, illustrating its relevance to the target group. The Porsche Golf Cup was successfully relaunched in the markets in 2021 following a hiatus caused by the pandemic. No less than two Porsche Golf Cup World Finals are therefore awaited with much anticipation in Majorca in the new year – the cancelled 2019 season finals tournament and the 2021 world final.

First year as an ambassador
Paul Casey experienced his first Porsche European Open as a member of the Porsche family. The Englishman has been a Porsche brand ambassador since autumn 2020. In this capacity, he experienced among other things the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England and, in the USA, Monterey Car Week and the Sportscar Together Fest in Indianapolis. Casey was delighted to be given an insight into the Porsche and motorsport worlds and also thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the 9:11 Porsche podcast together with Porsche works driver Kévin Estre. 

“I gain a lot from the partnership because I’m so motorsport crazy myself,” says Casey. “I want to fulfil my ambassador role to the full and I’m free to do it – it’s fantastic. And I’m getting to know many wonderful people with whom I can talk about the brand and motorsport. It’s incredibly inspiring.”

Porsche European Open
The Porsche European Open made an impressive return in 2021 too. The seventh edition of this professional tournament in the European Tour held on the Porsche Nord Course of the Green Eagle Golf Courses outside of Hamburg from 5 to 7 June 2021 brought world-class players back to Germany after approximately two years. The event had to be delayed by two days and reduced down to three days due to the travel rules at the time, but the spectators nevertheless celebrated its comeback on this impressive golf course. Special authorisation was given for 2,000 spectators to attend each day – for the first time after 20 months during which tournaments in Europe had to make do without fans. The winner Marcus Armitage therefore enjoyed a very good reception on his sensational final round. The Englishman leapt from eleventh place to first place on the final day and celebrated his first European Tour victory. After a strong comeback, title holder Paul Casey finished in sixth place.

Brand ambassadors

The brand ambassadors are an important part of the Porsche family as they authentically represent the brand and make the Stuttgart-based company’s uniqueness tangible. Their appearances clearly show what Porsche stands for – breathtaking products, fascinating experiences and value-creating innovations. Porsche is a sports car manufacturer out of conviction – the brand’s origins and also the self-image that characterises it lie in motorsport. Performance, achievement orientation, team spirit and a natural will to succeed are all attributes which are characteristic of the core of motorsport. Porsche therefore collaborates with individuals here who have impressively demonstrated their sporting prowess on racetracks around the world. 

At the heart of the Porsche DNA
Based on his impressive GT racing experience, the former works driver Jörg Bergmeister now serves not only as a Porsche brand ambassador. The successful 911 driver also contributes his expertise as a test and development driver to the test-driving of future sports car models and offers incredible insights into the hard work of a professional driver at press driving events and track events. 

One of the most successful Porsche works drivers has likewise successfully completed a large number of test kilometres – with his illustrious motorsport career, Timo Bernhard is one of the faces of the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer in this segment. Bernhard, who started his career as a Porsche junior in 1999 and is a Le Mans winner and two-time FIA World Endurance Championship winner, can continue to live his dream with Porsche even after his active career – now as a brand ambassador. At a variety of events, the former endurance racer relates anecdotes about the past. 

He frequently crosses paths with his former teammate Mark Webber. The Australian and former Formula 1 driver is a seasoned motorsport expert and, in his capacity as a Porsche brand ambassador, also a popular moderator of many events. The former sports car world champion also authentically represents topics related to the Exclusive Manufaktur. 

As an advocate and lover of especially curvy stretches, legendary rally driver Walter Röhrl has served the premium manufacturer as a brand ambassador uninterrupted since 1993. Röhrl is one of only a few drivers who have succeeded in winning championship races in both rallying and circuit racing and can explain in simple terms what’s important when driving at the limit. Röhrl, who is now 75 years of age, therefore also makes appearances at product presentations again and again. 

Sports engagement diversity
Brand ambassador Aksel Lund Svindal has a passion for the perfect line in his blood too. The two-time Olympic champion and five-time world champion is one of the most successful alpine skiers around and has been an avowed sports car fan since an early age. The Norwegian shares his feel for speed, the right balance for optimally taking corners and the vision needed for future topics at trade shows, events and product presentations. 

The newest addition to the team of brand ambassadors, professional golfer Paul Casey, likewise has sports cars in his genes. The Englishman has counted among the top professional golf players for two decades and is a true fan of Porsche. This is something that fans and customers alike can witness again and again when Casey participates in Porsche events around the world. 

The portfolio of brand ambassadors includes the top two German women’s tennis players of recent years, Angelique Kerber and Julia Görges, as well as the erstwhile world-class player Maria Sharapova. All three of them are former winners of the long-standing Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. They are known for their class and personality on and off the court, and represent Porsche and its philosophy as brand ambassadors on the global stage.

As an ambassador for Porsche’s youth development, Sami Khedira, who was part of Germany’s World Cup-winning team, applies the experience he gathered in the course of his long international career to his work with talented young sportspeople.

As an ambassador for Porsche’s youth development, Sami Khedira, who  was part of Germany’s World Cup-winning team, applies the experience he gathered  in the course of his long international career to his work with talented young sportspeople. Khedira, who was born in Stuttgart, supports the Turbo for Talent programme, the aim of which is to use events and regular dialogue to teach young people values that will help them develop from up-and-coming sportspeople into professionals with personality.

Bolstering the company’s heritage
This is something which is supported by actor Richy Müller, who plays the Stuttgart-based police inspector in the series Tatort and who is involved in the foundation Stiftung Lesen together with Porsche, which seeks to encourage children to read. He also represents Porsche at a variety of events in the areas of product, corporate and heritage communications.

As an ambassador for Porsche’s youth develop-ment, Sami Khedira, who was part of Germany’s World Cup-winning team, applies the experience he gathered in the course of his long international career to his work with talented young sportspeople.

The Porsche Jump is the iconic restaging of a black and white photo taken in the 1960s and features two-time Olympic champion Svindal jumping over a Porsche Taycan parked between walls of snow of many metres in height.

The Porsche Jump
The Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer has always tackled things with the mindset of daring to try new things and boldly leading the way. In keeping with this motto, Porsche and brand ambassador Aksel Lund Svindal recreated a legendary ski jump over a Porsche. The Porsche Jump is the iconic restaging of a black and white photo taken in the 1960s and features two-time Olympic champion Svindal jumping over a Porsche Taycan parked between walls of snow of many metres in height.

The new jump motif is symbolic because, like the original that depicts a jump over a 356 B, the new picture featuring a leap over the first all-electric Porsche stands for the mettle that the company demonstrates to stand out in the global competition. This modern reinterpretation allows the company to confidently look back at its impressive history and illustrates how Porsche interprets future viability – always having the courage to resolutely do more than the others to come up with the best solution. For Porsche, the restaging forges a bridge between the past, the present and the innovations of the future – this symbiosis is afforded authentic symbolism by the jump over the highly innovative Taycan.

A major journey
Spaceman meets racing driver: German ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer had a dream come true in autumn 2021 when he flew to the International Space Station (ISS). Brand ambassador Timo Bernhard has done the same – the two-time Le Mans overall winner, record breaker and sports car world champion can look back on an impressive professional career with Porsche. Two people with two different missions, but the same level of dedication – Bernhard and Maurer have both realised their dreams thanks to meticulous preparation and a love of technology and science. 

In a joint video chat for the weekly paper DIE ZEIT as part of its ZEIT for Research themed week, Bernhard and Maurer, who both hail from Saarland, related how important it is to hold on to your dreams. “My 2017 Le Mans win with Porsche was my personal flight to the moon,” says Bernhard, who, unlike Maurer, has already been able to realise his greatest dream. Maurer’s greatest dream is to journey into space. “I was a scientist and I saw an opportunity to work in an international team with the very best technology. And I was drawn by the adventure too.” The astronaut will return to earth in early 2022.