German TV star Richy Mueller's passion for racing has been re-ignited by his weekend at the Nurburgring and he revealed he would love the chance to get behind the wheel of a Porsche again and go racing.
Mueller plays the lead role of police chief Thorsten Lannert in the popular German detective drama series, Tatort, frequently chasing down criminals in a Porsche.
He has always had a love of speed having grown up close to the Hockenheimring but after starting off on motorbikes he moved into the cockpit for fear or damaging himself and in turn ruining his acting career.
Mueller last competed in 2003 and as a guest of Porsche this weekend at the Nurburgring he revealed that the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup is much more professional now and driving on the edge is a lot tougher than when he was at the wheel.
The 55-year-old said: “My last Supercup race was in 2003 in Hockenheim. I finished 17th, which wasn't at all bad for someone who only drives every couple of years.
“It still appeals to me, even though much has changed over the years. Everything has become so much more professional, the Porsche is now a real race car and it's not so easy to handle at the limit.
“But then again it wasn't easy back then to race against the likes of Patrick Huisman. It was a fantastic experience.”
And when quizzed about the possibility of combining his passion of cars with his acting career he was quick to quash any future role as a racing driver.
He added: “I'd be reluctant to do that. It's always a little embarrassing. Earlier there were good race driver films, for instance with Steve McQueen or Paul Newman, but that's a long time ago.
“ Afterwards there was only trash. A while ago there was a film with Till Schweiger and Sylvester Stallone, they were driving Formula cars wheel-to-wheel at racing speed, wearing helmets and for the entire time they were yelling at each other. That's impossible, totally unrealistic rubbish.”
Mueller also revealed he prefers the more driver orientated series such as the GP2 or the Porsche Supercup over Formula One, as he believes the best drivers come to the fore rather than relying on car performance.
He concluded: “I actually find the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup or the GP2 more interesting because the drivers play a much more important role. In Formula 1, they largely depend on the technology.
“Timo Glock is a good example, he's driving with the back-markers with inferior material. If he had a good car he'd probably be up the front.”