André Lotterer will drive for Avalanche Andretti alongside Jake Dennis in 2023, the team has confirmed.
André Lotterer looked set to leave Formula E to focus on endurance racing, where he achieved impressive results winning the title in 2012 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times.
Previously this year, Porsche had announced that the German-Belgian driver would be part of their upcoming LMDh project, in partnership with Team Penske.
However, after losing his Formula E seat to Antonio Felix Da Costa, who will be driving for Porsche alongside Pascal Wehrlein in Season 9, Lotterer set out to strike another deal to keep racing in the all-electric series.
Andretti became Porsche’s first Formula E customer when, earlier this season, they struck a deal to take on the German manufacturer as their powertrain provider.
The new partnership helped Lotterer to secure a seat in Formula E for the next season, the WEC champion joining Andretti to replace Oliver Askew as Jake Dennis’s teammate.
“André’s experience, performance and energy will be a great addition to our team and our aim to challenge the front of the field in the series,” said Andretti’s Team Principal Roger Griffiths.
“With Jake as his teammate, we believe we will have a brilliant driver partnership to lead us in the series and help our team to continue to grow with our fans and sponsors.“
Strong of the new partnership with Porsche, Michael Andretti, CEO and chairman of Andretti Autosport, expressed confidence in their new Formula E line-up, saying Lotterer was “another step in creating a team that can challenge for wins and the World Championship”.
Lotterer, who has always enjoyed racing in Formula E, said he was excited to be joining Andretti for the start of the Gen3 era.
“Working together with Jake will be a great combination to continue to push the team to the front of the field in Formula E,” he said, restating the team’s goals for the future.
Porsche still expects Lotterer to fulfil his duties with their LMDh program, but has also expressed interest and promised a closer collaboration with their new Formula E customer team.
Lotterer not only will reinforce their partnership but will also provide more data for Porsche to keep pushing development, with the German manufacturer also providing engineering support for Andretti.
“It’s very important for us as we will see four 99X Electric on the grid,” said Florian Modlinger, Porsche’s Formula E Factory Director. “With good cooperation we can get more data and learn more especially with the new Gen3 car – this will be a valuable experience.”
Porsche and Andretti have the common goal of competing at a higher level in Season 9 – the Gen3 cars, along with the team’s new line-up, perhaps providing the perfect opportunity to enter the fight for the World Championship.
