​A word from ... André Lotterer

The Audi driver attended appointments in Brussels and Hungary and is already looking forward to the 24 Hours of Spa. 

Even though the next FIA WEC race is only on the agenda in August, your calendar is full. What have you been up to this week? 

On Tuesday I was at the Audi factory in Brussels in my homeland Belgium. I visited the production facilities with my team mates Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer and Audi Sport employees and saw how the Audi A1 is manufactured. There was an autograph session for the employees, and in the evening a round table that Dr. Ullrich also attended. It’s always great to feel the support given by the employees and to offer them fun and excitement through our motorsport program. Motorsport really has an established place in Audi culture. 

At the weekend you were in Hungary. What was on the agenda? 

I was at the Red Bull Air Race with Benoît Tréluyer. This sport is completely crazy! Aerobatics with turning loops over the Danube: this is pure acrobatics. I was even allowed to see what it’s like in such a cockpit. Similar to our taxi rides in motorsport, there are also taxi flights at the Red Bull Air Races. It’s incredible what the pilots do. And the centrifugal forces are even higher than they are in our racecar. This was an experience that I will never ever forget. 

Before returning to the cockpit of your Audi R18 e-tron quattro, you drive in another race for Audi. The 24 Hours of Spa on July 25-26 are in your calendar. Is your sense of anticipation growing? 

It will certainly be fantastic to drive there in the new Audi R8 LMS. I’ll be racing for Audi Sport Team Phoenix and share the car with Marcel Fässler and Mike Rockenfeller. The 24 Hours of Spa means a lot to me: the wonderful track, the world’s biggest GT3 grid, my personal relationship to the country in which I grew up, and the huge community of fans. We want to win, but we also know just how difficult this will be bearing in mind the competition. My request to the fans from Belgium and neighboring Germany: this is motorsport you can touch – come and visit us.