“My greatest opponent”
André Lotterer reflects in MotorSport magazine, on his 2011 Le Mans victory with Audi. The now three-time Le Mans winner pinpoints the Peugeot endurance trio from 2011 as his most formidable opponents: “For me, this is not one driver; this is a team rivalry – Audi and Peugeot in 2011 – my first of three victories there, after an intense rivalry that lasted the whole race.”
Lotterer continues: “Sharing the R18 TDI with Marcel Fässler and Benoit Tréluyer, I was doing multiple stints of nearly four hours, flat out, and in the end, we beat Sébastien Bourdais, Simon Pagenaud and Pedro Lamy in the Peugeot by just 13 seconds after 24 hours. This was a tough rivalry and a victory that changed my racing career, enabled me to break through into more international racing, changing my life a lot.”
“The cars were so evenly matched, the lead changing all the time, and by the end, we were the only Audi still in the running, so it was all down to us. I didn’t sleep at all for the whole race. I was following our progress on the app. I don’t know how I did that, driving multiple stints, three hours and 45 minutes on the limit, pushing for every metre, every braking point.”
“When I crossed the line to win, it was very emotional. A great rivalry like that, against good drivers and a good car, makes you feel so alive. Sharing this with Marcel and Benoit (picture below) was incredibly satisfying. It was Audi’s 10th Le Mans win, and my first. We partied until early Monday morning.”