Andre Lotterer: “The passion is there” as he goes in search of fourth Le Mans win

Andre Lotterer, along with teammates Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor are leading the World Endurance championship heading into Le Mans this weekend.

Victorious at the season-opener in Qatar, Lotterer, Estre and Vanthoor then secured second place finishes at Imola and Spa-Francorchamps.

“The start of the season has been very hopeful and the momentum is good,” Lotterer told Sportscar365. “The way I’m working with my teammates and the engineers is very efficient, very positive. Things are obviously much better than last year.

“You obviously need performance at Le Mans and we don’t know how everyone else is going to be, but within the team we have reached a level where we can optimize things almost to the maximum.

“It’s not even comparable to last year. We nailed the set-up at Qatar, Imola and Spa and I think we have all the elements to do the same here.”

One of the favourites to win this weekend’s 92nd running of the Le Mans 24h event, Lotterer would take his tally to four wins at the Circuit de la Sarthe if he clinches victory.

For that to happen a fast car and reliability will need to be very good, but in terms of motivation, nothing is lacking for the German driver.

“Motivation-wise, the passion is there,” added Lotterer. “The cars are different to drive [to LMP1], more like GT cars, so Kevin and Laurens maybe feel a bit more at home than me.

“There’s a trend of the guys coming from GT taking more risks, pushing more. That’s different from the past. We are also pushing a lot of course, but I feel like the risks used to be slightly more calculated.

“You see guys taking more risks now, so maybe there’s a generation gap there, a different style. Sometimes I am a bit surprised by it.

“I was more at home in LMP1. But I still enjoy it a lot and I want to push. They are different cars to drive, but you have to adapt and do your best.”