German FAZ: “We drivers are like gladiators”006149

André Lotterer with his Porsche at the limit: 101 percent is too much, 99 too little.
Image: picture alliance / DPPI media

The 24 Hours of Le Mans started 100 years ago. Porsche driver André Lotterer knows how to win the long-distance classic – but not how to sleep while doing it.

The lead changed again and again, more than forty times. The teammates had a serious accident. Then there was the matter of the flat foot. André Lotterer still had to survive an hour. The second-placed Peugeot rushed him across the tarmac when the left rear tire of his Audi deflated.

Sonke Sievers

Deputy Head of Department for Sport Online.

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When the multi-million venture threatened to fail, Lotterer followed his credo: “The trick at Le Mans is not to be too careful. You have to give exactly 100 percent. 101 percent is too much. The track doesn’t forgive mistakes. 99 percent is not enough. That wastes performance and development costs,” he tells F.A.S.

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