André Lotterer

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André Lotterer (born 19 November 1981) is a German racing driver, who most recently competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Porsche. In formula racing, Lotterer competed in Formula One at the Template:F1GP in Template:Ifnumber, and Formula E from 2017 to 2023. In Japanese motorsport, Lotterer won the Formula Nippon Championship in 2011, and is a two-time champion of Super GT, all with TOM'S. In endurance racing, Lotterer has won two FIA World Endurance Championship titles, and is a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Audi.

He is best known for his success in endurance racing with the works Audi team, including three victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the drivers' title of the FIA World Endurance Championship. He has also competed in the Japanese Super Formula and Super GT series for over a decade, becoming champion in 2011 in the former and taking the latter title in 2006 and 2010, as well as driving in Formula E for six years.

Lotterer was a test driver for the Jaguar Formula One team in Template:Ifnumber. Twelve years later, he joined Caterham, replacing Kamui Kobayashi at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix.

Early life

Born in Duisburg, Lotterer is the son of a German-Peruvian father, Henri Lotterer, and a Belgian mother. He was raised with his mother in Nivelles, Belgium, from an early age, where he began his racing career by karting at the age of seven, effectively becoming an adopted Belgian.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Endurance racing career

File:Andre Lotterer 2010 Super GT Fuji 400km qualify Super Lap.jpg

Lotterer driving the Lexus SC 430 for Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S at the 2010 Super GT Fuji 400km race.

After his stint with Jaguar in Formula One, he moved to Japan, winning both the Super GT Championship in 2006 and 2009 as well as the Formula Nippon (currently known as Super Formula) Championship in 2011.

Lotterer also made his debut in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans, as a race week fill-in driver for the Kolles privateer Audi team. Lotterer and co-driver Charles Zwolsman Jr., also a Le Mans rookie, drove the entire race themselves after third driver Narain Karthikeyan dislocated his shoulder in a non-racing related injury. Driving an Audi R10, the car that won the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Le Mans races, Lotterer and Zwolsman finished 7th overall and in the LMP1 class.

File:Audi R18 e-tron quattro André Lotterer at Goodwood 2014 002.jpg

Lotterer with the Audi R18 e-tron quattro at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2014.

His impressive performance that year earned him a drive with the works Audi Sport team in the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving the new Audi R15 TDI plus. Along with Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer, he finished 2nd overall and in the LMP1 class, despite the rival Peugeot 908s dominating for the first part of the race

He remained with Audi Sport to compete in the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans, co-driving the newly designed Audi R18 with Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer. After the Audi works team lost two out of three cars due to accidents, Lotterer and his co-drivers held off three Peugeot 908 works cars to claim both 1st place in the LMP1 class and the overall victory, beating the 2nd place Peugeot by a mere 13 seconds. This win gave Audi a total of 10 overall victories at Le Mans, and Lotterer his first overall win at Le Mans.^[5]

From 2012 to 2016, Lotterer competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship, continuing to drive for Audi Sport Team Joest with the R18. During his tenure with Audi in the WEC, Lotterer won the drivers' championship in the series' inaugural season with Benoît Tréluyer and Marcel Fässler.^[6] After Audi Sport Team Joest decided not to run in WEC for 2017, Lotterer moved to Porsche as the driver of the No. 1 car with Nick Tandy and 2016 drivers' world champion Neel Jani.^[7]

After 2017, Porsche departed the series and from LMP1 competition. Lotterer joined Rebellion Racing for the 2018–19 season, joining Jani and Bruno Senna in the #1 entry.^[8]

File:Porsche 963 Hybrid - Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer & Laurens Vanthoor enters Tertre Rouge at the 2023 Le Mans (53470244984).jpg

Lotterer at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Porsche 963.

Lotterer returned to the series in 2023, joining Porsche's Hypercar effort alongside Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor in the #6 entry. After last competing in the series in 2019, Lotterer stated that he felt like "a stranger" after almost four years away.^[9] Lotterer won the drivers' championship for the second time in his career in 2024 alongside Estre and Vanthoor, winning for the first time in twelve seasons.^[10] In December 2024, Lotterer joined Genesis alongside Pipo Derani to help spearhead the development of their GMR-001 LMDh prototype.^[11]

Single-seater career

Formula One

Reserve role at Jaguar (2001–2003)

Lotterer tested Jaguar F1 cars from 2000 to 2003.^[12] He succeeded in both German and British Formula 3 Championships en route to being named Jaguar Racing's Formula One test driver in 2002. He was passed up for a race seat in 2003 with Eddie Irvine retiring and Pedro de la Rosa leaving, as the team chose Mark Webber and Antônio Pizzonia instead.

In 2002, Lotterer contested a one-off Champ Car event at the end of 2002 for Dale Coyne Racing, scoring a point at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Circuit.

Return with Caterham (2014)

He replaced Caterham F1 driver Kamui Kobayashi for a one-off race at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix.^[13] He qualified 21st place, in front of teammate Marcus Ericsson, but his race lasted just one lap before a mechanical failure put an abrupt end to his F1 debut.^[14] He was invited to race again at the Italian Grand Prix, but declined as the team planned to run Roberto Merhi in the car for the first practice session, contrary to his desire to take part in all the available running due to his lack of experience.^[15]

CART and Formula 3000

Lotterer made a one-off appearance with Dale Coyne Racing in the final round of the 2002 CART Season in Mexico. He finished 12th, scoring a solitary point.^[16]

He also took part in a non-championship F3000 event, the Euro F3000 Sprint, at the Bologna Motor Show in December 2002. He drove for the Uboldi Corse SRL team. In a field of 12 identical Lola B99/50-Zyteks, Lotterer was one of only three non-Italians (the others being Sven Heidfeld and Phil Giebler), and the only one to reach the Semi-Finals. He won the event after beating Fabrizio Gollin in the Final.^[17]

Formula Nippon/Super Formula

Lotterer hoped to progress to either CART or F3000 full-time for 2003 but ended up switching to Formula Nippon. He would become a mainstay of the series until 2017, scoring 24 wins and securing the 2011 title.

A1 Grand Prix

He made a one-off appearance for Team Germany in Portugal in the final season of A1 Grand Prix. He retired from the Sprint race and finished 9th in the Feature race, scoring the only points of the season for the former series Champions.

Formula E

Techeetah (2017–2019)

File:36 Andre Lotterer at Lung Wo Rd, Man Yiu St (20190310170401).jpg

Lotterer with Techeetah during the 2019 Hong Kong ePrix where he would narrowly miss the victory.

Lotterer joined Formula E with Techeetah in 2017, partnering Jean-Éric Vergne.^[18] After a disastrous Hong Kong weekend, where he was disqualified in race 1 and finished 13th in race 2 and a forgettable Marrakesh, Lotterer made his first podium in 2018 Santiago ePrix after battling with his teammate Vergne. They helped the team achieve the first 1-2 finish for a team in Formula E, although during the race it looked as though they could have blown it. A charging Lotterer drove into the back of Vergne late in the race and the team were not aware due to a power issue in the paddock. He finished third in 2018 Rome ePrix. He finished the 2017–18 season 8th with 64 points.

Lotterer nearly won the 2019 Hong Kong ePrix after leading most laps in the race. He was hit by Sam Bird in the second last lap which lead to his puncture and caused him to finish the race in 14th. In 2019 Rome ePrix he claimed his first pole position in Formula E. He finished the race second after Jaguar's Mitch Evans. The season finished with 4 consecutive races without points, ending the season 8th with 86 points, while his team-mate Jean-Éric Vergne won the championship for a second year.

Porsche (2019–2022)

File:Porsche at the 2022 Mexico City ePrix.jpg

Lotterer behind teammate Pascal Wehrlein, where they secured a 1-2 finish in the 2022 Mexico City ePrix.

Lotterer joined newcomer team TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team on 17 July 2019, partnering Neel Jani.^[19] António Félix da Costa was announced as his replacement at Techeetah. He made his debut with Porsche at Diriyah finishing 2nd in round 1, and finishing 14th in round 2. Lotterer secured pole for the Mexico City E-Prix, although lost the lead into the first corner and later on retired from the race. Lotterer scored a second place finish in the first of six races in Berlin, and ended the season in 8th with 71 points.

Lotterer stayed with Porsche for season 7 and his only podium finish was in the second race in Valencia, which was a second place. Both of the Porsche drivers were disqualified from the first race in Puebla after the team didn't declare the race tyres.^[20] Lotterer had finished in 16th, although his team-mate Wehrlein had crossed the finish line first. Lotterer finished the season in 17th with 58 points.

After 10 races, Lotterer had a second place in Mexico City and is currently 7th with 59 points.^[21]

Andretti (2023)

File:2023-04-21 Motorsport, ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Berlin E-Prix 2023 1DX 0735 by Stepro.jpg

Lotterer during the 2023 Berlin ePrix with Avalanche Andretti.

Lotterer was set to depart Formula E at the end of the 2021–22 season.^[22] However, he instead signed with Andretti Autosport's Formula E Team, Avalanche Andretti, to partner Jake Dennis and replace the outgoing Oliver Askew.^[23] Lotterer finished the season in a disappointing 18th place, scoring only 23 points, a far cry from teammate Dennis' 229 who became that season's champion.^[24] On 8 September, Lotterer announced his exit from the series, stating he would focus solely on the FIA World Endurance Championship.^[25]

Reserve role with Porsche (2024)

Despite leaving Formula E full-time, Lotterer continued his involvement in the series, returning to TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team as their test and reserve driver.^[26]

Personal life

As of 2004, Lotterer resided in Tokyo, Japan.^[27] He has since moved to Monaco and often visits Nivelles, Belgium, the town he was raised in, as well as his hometown Renningen.^[28] Lotterer's hobbies outside of racing include cycling, collecting and driving classic cars, photography, driving buggies, and discovering unique foods.^[29] Lotterer is close friends with Jean-Éric Vergne, his teammate from 2017 to 2019, and is also friends with former racing driver - turned Audi Sport ABT Schaffler team principal, Allan McNish.^[30]