Three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Andre Lotterer believes that profitable the World Endurance Championship title this 12 months means greater than his 2012 triumph with Audi.
The German, who sealed the crown in Bahrain on Saturday with Porsche Penske Motorsport team-mates Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer, steered that his second world crown conveys extra status than the maiden triumph secured within the inaugural season of the reborn WEC.
“There’s extra recognition for such an achievement in at present’s circumstances,” Lotterer informed Motorsport.com.
“It’s important to take a look at how the championship has come a great distance.
“Loads of producers have come, and so they haven’t come simply to take part – everybody has come to win.
“The competitors now and the Stability of Efficiency that ranges the sphere means the execution, operation and technique, doing the proper job by way of the season, is what’s rewarded.
“I’d say it’s fairly significant.”
Race winners #1 Audi Sport Staff Joest Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro: Marcel Fässler, Andre Lotterer, Benoit Tréluyer and #2 Audi Sport Staff Joest Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro: Rinaldo Capello, Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish crosses the road
Photograph by: Daniel Kalisz / Motorsport Pictures
Lotterer pressured that he wasn’t essentially choosing this 12 months’s Hypercar title with the Porsche 963 LMDh over his 2012 success with the Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 as a extra vital spotlight of his profession.
“I wouldn’t say it means extra to me, it’s simply totally different,” stated Lotterer, who’s leaving the PPM squad for subsequent season after Porsche’s determination to scale back its full-season driver line-up to 2 drivers.
“However we have been fairly dominant in 2012 and there wasn’t that a lot competitors if i’m trustworthy.”
LMP1 newcomer Toyota was Audi’s solely manufacturing facility rival that season after it made a late determination to undertake greater than a restricted variety of growth races, its authentic plan following Peugeot’s withdrawal shortly earlier than the beginning of the season.
Lotterer steered that the world title ought to not be seen because the poor relation to victory at Le Mans.
Whereas Porsche gained the drivers’ title this 12 months with Lotterer, Estre and Vanthoor, it might handle a finest end of fourth within the 92nd working of Le Mans.
“Beforehand in LMP1, Le Mans was the factor everybody wished; it was all about Le Mans again then, he defined.
He added that again within the early years of the WEC revival “you form of thought you’d misplaced the season” with a failure to win at Le Mans.
He described profitable Le Mans with co-champions Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler because the “heroic half” of a WEC marketing campaign in 2012 that included an extra two victories and 4 podiums.
That may be a reference to the Lotterer and his team-mates popping out on high within the battle with the sister Audi pushed by Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello regardless of the failure of hybrid system on their R18 early within the race.
Lotterer, 42, has no intention of retiring after dropping his PPM drive with the top of his contract.
He revealed earlier than the Bahrain 8 Hours that he’s in talks with Porsche a few potential new position and can also be in touch with different producers.
