Why Groves chased champion Formula E engineer

Alexander Lieschke’s championship credentials in the cutthroat Formula E attracted the German to Penrite Racing, says Stephen Grove.

On the eve of the NTI Townsville 500, the Grove squad announced Lieschke as its latest international signing, following the arrival of Riccardo Corte.

Formerly of Scuderia Ferrari, Italian engineer Corte has taken to Supercars with aplomb, turning Kai Allen from rough rookie into rounded championship contender and win regular.

Lieschke has a decorated background with Porsche in Germany, and will join Penrite Racing in October in the newly created role of Head of Simulation & Performance Engineering.

While an unknown to most Aussie race fans, Lieschke set tongues wagging at Grove Racing HQ courtesy of his strong run with Porsche, which included experience in the brand’s Formula E program and successful LMP1 program.

He recently supported Porsche customer team Andretti Formula E, overseeing Porsche’s Season 10 Formula E Drivers’ Championship success, followed by the Season 11 Teams’ and Manufacturers’ Championships.

It’s those successes that sold Lieschke to the Supercars leaders, given the ever tightening competitive landscape of the Aussie championship.

“Alex ran the Formula E team to a teams' championship and a drivers' championship. That’s not easy to do,” Executive Chairman Stephen Grove told Supercars.com.

“In Formula E, all the cars are identical, which is similar to what we have here. You can’t test either, which is similar to us, in how little testing we can do.

“Here, you've gotta be pretty quick out of the box, and the only way you can do that is by hoarding through data and looking through finer details.

“We really wanted to go and get someone like that."

Penrite Racing has managed to thrive amid significant change, with David Cauchi and Grant McPherson both departing in recent months. It also comes amid continued noise over Matt Payne’s future.

The competition was also a lure to Lieschke, who said: “The Supercars Championship is known throughout the motorsport world as one of the most competitive racing categories anywhere, so every bit of performance is crucial to ultimate success.”

Upon the Lieschke announcement, Grove maintained that is is “imperative that we continue to invest in the people and processes that can take us to another level.”

Given how little teams can tune and develop the Gen3 Supercar, Grove knows all too well how one-percenters are required to stay at the top of the sport — something rivals Triple Eight are seemingly grappling.

“The game has changed. With Gen2, you would build the car and you could build intricate parts, like suspension,” Grove added to Supercars.com.

“With Gen3, that’s all gone. All the machinery's the same. So, you've got to be trying to come out of the truck pretty quick.

“We just thought that that was the best way forward for us."

Payne and Allen are first and fifth, and Penrite Racing first in teams', heading to Perth on July 31-August 2.