André Lotterer: One of Japan's honorary sons
Having thrown a spotlight on the four Japanese nationals driving in this weekend’s 6 Hours of Fuji, the seventh round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, it would perhaps be wrong to ignore one of the country’s ‘honorary’ sons: André Lotterer.
The German-born Audi driver lives in Tokyo and has raced in Japan for nearly a decade alongside, amongst others, Benoît Tréluyer. Together with Marcel Fässler, who will be making his Japanese racing debut, the German-French duo are currently leading the Drivers’ points standings and their experience at Fuji will be invaluable in helping their Swiss team mate to get up to speed as quickly as possible. The 30-year-old won the 2011 Formula Nippon Series and is currently lying third in the championship standings for the 2012 season.
Before moving to Japan, André raced successfully in both the German and British Formula 3 Championships before being named as an F1 test driver for Jaguar Racing in 2002. When a full season ride failed to materialise he spent a year in Champ Car before moving to Japan to compete in Formula Nippon and the All-Japan GT Championship.
André Lotterer, No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro, on racing in the 6 Hours of Fuji: “Fuji is almost a home round for me because I’ve been racing in Japan for nearly ten years and am still competing in Formula Nippon there. My team-mate Benoît Tréluyer and I’ve got a large number of fans in Japan. Japanese spectators love endurance racing. The fact that Ben and I were always running there as rivals and are now competing together for Audi makes for a very special situation. The race will be a real humdinger.”
On the Fuji Speedway track layout: “At first glance, Fuji looks easy, but it’s not easy to drive at all. For the 1.5-kilometer straight, you need only little aerodynamic drag and a lot of downforce for the fast corners. The first right-hand turn is very narrow and it’s followed by a fast left-hander, the A-Corner, which is a real challenge. This section merges into the long 100 R where various lines and apexes are possible. It’s fast and you’ve got a view of Mount Fuji.
“Next is a hairpin. You’ve got to do a good job of accelerating out of this turn onto the long, slightly bent uphill straight up to a narrow chicane. The most challenging section comes last: an off-camber right-hand turn, followed by two left-handers with hard to find apexes, and then there’s another right-hander. I like the track. Slipstream often plays a major role there.”
Fiona Miller (quotes from Audi Motorsport press release)
Photo: SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY (SEBRING, FLORIDA, USA), 12 HOURS OF SEBRING, SATURDAY, 17TH MARCH 2012. André Lotterer (centre) and his team mates from the No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro, Benoît Tréluyer (left) and Marcel Fässler (right).
