Since 2007, Mobil 1 has been the title sponsor of a series that bills itself the world’s fastest and most prestigious one-make championship. It’s hard to argue with that assertion.
[Not a valid template]The Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup operates as a support race for Formula 1 at some of the greatest circuits around the world, featuring full grids of purpose-built Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars and some of the world’s greatest GT drivers. The action is fast, frantic and very close. It’s also technically challenging, with cars and their components being pushed to the limit.
For Mobil 1, the partnership with Porsche Supercup isn’t just about slapping the brand name over the series – it’s another chance to develop customer products in an incredibly testing environment. The 911 GT3 Cup car is closely related to the road-going 911, with 450bhp from its 3.8-litre six-cylinder boxer engine, and so lessons learned from products tested in the race cars can be directly transferred over to road vehicles.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that the series is just a test bed for Mobil 1. The race teams are paying good money to race, and they demand the best quality oil and lubrication straight out of the can. Reliability is incredibly important, as a single problem can mean the difference between a win and a loss.
With races taking place all over the world, the conditions vary dramatically – just as they do for Mobil 1 customers. The Middle East gets very hot, while races at the Nürburgring in Germany are often both cold and wet. As well as the Supercup series, there are other Porsche Cup series in countries all over the world, and all of them also use Mobil 1 products, giving the company a huge amount of information.
“We develop Mobil 1 racing oil in the same lab as all our commercial products and people move between the two programmes,” explains Bruce Crawley, Mobil 1’s global motorsport technology manager. “There have been ingredients that we tried first in racing and then later added to commercial Mobil 1. Motorsport pushes the boundaries of our technology.”
You can now buy the same oils and lubricants used by Porsche Motorsport for use in your own car. For example, Mobil 1 0W-40 is used in the GT3 Cup car’s engine, while the gearboxes run with Mobilube 1 SHC 75W-90. Both variants are available in shops around the world.
The Porsche Supercup began in 1993 and is considered one the top one-make series in the world. A proving ground for some of the world’s best sports car racers, it’s also considered an excellent business platform for partners and race teams, advertising the best young drivers and organisations in motorsport. A win in Porsche Supercup gets both the race team and the driver noticed on a global stage and can be a huge leg-up in the careers of both, propelling them into the world of international touring car and GT racing.
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