Lotterer sees Le Mans comeback as ‘long-term’ ambition
Andre Lotterer says he only sees a Le Mans 24 Hours comeback as a ‘long-term’ goal despite Porsche having committed to a return to sportscar racing’s top flight.
Late last year, Porsche confirmed plans to bid for a 20th outright win at La Sarthe in 2023 with a car built to the new LMDh regulations that will be used for both the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Lotterer, who drives for Porsche in Formula E, had previously signalled his desire to return to Le Mans with the German marque if it ever decided to contend for overall victory again.
But the 39-year-old, a three-time winner of the French classic with Audi, says that ensuring Porsche achieves its goals in Formula E remains his immediate priority.
“It’s not on my mind right now, but I’m a Porsche driver and they announced [the LMDh project], so I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to do it,” Lotterer told Motorsport.com. “It's one of my dreams to win Le Mans for Porsche, it would be something quite special.
“We got close in 2017 and then as we all know Porsche pulled out and I joined Formula E. Now we are together again, I would love to join, but it’s a long-term thing [going back to Le Mans] and there are big challenges ahead in Formula E.
“I’m still committed to Formula E, I invested a lot of time and energy in the project and the programme is still young. We have big targets also for the third year [in 2021-22], so this is something I’m putting a lot of energy into.”
Lotterer won Le Mans for the first time in 2011 alongside Audi squadmates Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler, and the trio triumphed again in 2012 and ‘14.
The German skipped the race last year for the first time since 2008 as he focused on his Porsche Formula E commitments, his most recent appearances in the race having been a pair of outings for privateer LMP1 squad Rebellion Racing in 2018-19.
At first Lotterer combined his Rebellion duties with racing in FE for DS Techeetah, but following the conclusion of the 2018-19 WEC superseason he shifted his full focus to the all-electric series, and hasn’t made any professional appearances elsewhere since then.
Asked where he expects to focus his efforts for the remainder of his top-line career, Lotterer replied: “I’m always interested in a good combination of what I love to do and something that is interesting to do. FE is a great mixture because I love the competition and racing in cities, which is really cool and really challenging. Le Mans is a great platform as well - by its very nature it’s always meaningful in terms of efficiency.
“Being with Porsche means there will always be something good to do in that sense, because motorsport is in their DNA and they are always pushing the bounds of technology. So I think I’m in good hands for the future and I will follow them in whichever challenges they do.”
Lotterer, a two-time champion in SUPER GT and title winner in Formula Nippon (now Super Formula), added that a future return to racing in Japan was “realistically not in my plans”.
His last season racing in Japan came in 2017 with TOM'S in Super Formula before he bowed out to focus on his WEC and Formula E commitments.
Pole sitter Andre Lotterer, Team Tom's
Related video
Obituary: Johnny Dumfries, 1958-2021
Le Mans outlines 2021 schedule, return of test day
Celebrating the weird and wonderful monsters of sportscar racing
Few disciplines of motorsport offer better possibilities to build a colossus of the track than sportscars. For Autosport's recent Monsters of Motorsport special issue, we picked out some of the finest (and not so fine) that have graced sportscar classics including Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring
The remarkable fixes Toyota used to avert another Le Mans disaster
The 1-2 finish achieved by Toyota at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours was a result that will have surprised few, given its status as pre-event favourite. But the result was anything but straightforward, as worsening fuel pressure concerns required the team's drivers and engineers to pursue "creative fixes" on the fly. Here is the full story of how it reached the end without a lengthy pit visit
Inside the Le Mans finish too barmy for Hollywood
Team WRT has been at the forefront of GT racing for years and made a successful move to prototypes for 2021, capped by an LMP2 win on its Le Mans debut. It could've been even better had the race been one lap shorter, when its cars ran 1-2, but the stranger-than-fiction reality has spurred the team to reach greater heights.
Why Toyota's Le Mans victory was not as simple as it looked
Toyota scored its fourth Le Mans 24 Hours victory and a 1-2, with the #7 car of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez beating the #8. But although it looked straightforward from the outside, Toyota faced serious problem that had to be solved with some quick-thinking and ingenuity.
What we've learned from the Le Mans 24 Hours so far
The new dawn for the FIA World Endurance Championship has arrived at Le Mans, as Hypercars prepare to duel for victory in the world's oldest endurance race. Motorsport.com picks out the 10 things we have learned in the build up to the race.
Le Mans 2021: The team-by-team guide
After a two-month delay due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours is set to get underway with the start of the Hypercar era at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
The ex-F1 drivers making a name for themselves in LMP2 at Le Mans
Kevin Magnussen will make his Le Mans 24 Hours debut this weekend alongside father Jan in LMP2. But the Danes won't be the only ex-F1 drivers to appear in the hotly contested category this year.
Can Toyota's #7 crew break its Le Mans curse?
One Toyota, normally with the number 7 on the side, always seems to attract the bad luck in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez are hoping for a change in fortune this time around, but face significantly more unknowns than in recent years