Three-time Le Mans winner Andre Lotterer told Motorsport Week that he has ‘many options’ for next year, after it was announced the German would be leaving his FIA World Endurance Championship factory Porsche Penske Motorsport seat for 2025.
“There are many options,” said the 42-year-old.
“If you think, okay the news comes out and I’m not going to be with the team, you think “what will I do?”. Obviously I’ve been with Porsche a long time, so the loyalty is there to stay together and do other projects together.”
While leaving a race-winning — and, potentially, a world championship winning team if Lotterer and hisPorsche teammates, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor, triumph this weekend in the drivers’ championship — might be hard, Lotterer sounds like he’s looking forward to the next step in his career.
“It can be exciting,” he said.
“We need to see and understand what’s possible to do, whether it’s that [racing for a Porsche 963 customer team] or in GTs, or taking an ambassador role, or do something completely different with someone else.”
Lotterer, who won Le Mans in 2011, 2012 and 2014 with Audi Sport Team Joest, is still keen on taking a fourth Le Mans win. However, this will have to be with a team other than the factory Porsche outfit. That said, he could still find a seat at one of Porsche’s 963 customers, such as Proton Competition, who also race in the WEC.
GT racing ‘could eventually become an option’ for Lotterer
Furthermore, racing in a GT category is also an option. Although he hasn’t competed in a GT category since 2017, he has raced in the Spa and Nurburgring 24 Hours, which use GT3-based machinery, plus in Super GT in Japan.
“You have to differentiate what Super GT is in Japan and general GT racing elsewhere in the world,” said Lotterer. The German has a lot of experience racing in Japan, where he competed in both Super GT and Super Formula for many years.
“Super GT cars in Japan are pure prototypes, and with downforce and tyres they run they’re actually faster than the WEC cars. So I would call them more prototypes than GTs,” he continued.
“I don’t have much experience in the GT3s and it’s not something I’ve been putting my eyes on. I did 24 Hours of Spa a few times because I grew up in Belgium and I love the race.
“Eventually it could become an option. But at the moment, I’m not too sure if it’s something I want to. Especially since you don’t have the pro class anymore. So it’s it’s a concept that I need to to think about a bit,” he concluded.
For now, though, in the final lead up to the season finale, Lotterer’s focus is fully on winning the world championships – the aforementioned drivers’ and the manufacturers championship too, which Porsche lead by 10 points from Toyota.
“But at the moment, I’m going to focus on on this race. And give it some time a little bit after and then decide what I really want to do,” finished the 2012 world endurance champion, smiling.
