Lotterer explains “golden opportunity” behind Genesis move

Three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Andre Lotterer has described joining Genesis for its World Endurance Championship entry in 2026 as “a golden opportunity”.

The reigning WEC Hypercar champion, who is moving to the South Korean manufacturer after eight seasons with Porsche, told Motorsport.com that the move would allow him to build something that will stretch beyond the end of his driving career.

“This opportunity is like gold at this stage of my career,” said Lotterer, 43, who will lead development of an LMDh to be known as the Genesis GMR-001 Hypercar along with Pipo Derani this year before segueing into a WEC race seat for 2026.

“To be in right at the start of something is a privilege: it is the chance to use all my experience and know-how to build something for the future.

“The mission is to create a great team that will continue beyond my racing: I want to see the fruits of that after I stop driving, knowing I have been a big contributor.”

Lotterer pointed to the differences between his stints at Audi – which yielded his three Le Mans wins in 2011, ’12 and ’14 as well as the WEC LMP1 crown in 2012 – and Porsche.

“I was always racing for established teams, whether it was Audi or Porsche,” he explained. “If I look back at my career, this is different, but that’s what makes it very motivating and, I hope, fulfilling.”

Lotterer believes he still has another Le Mans victory in him as he enters the final phase of his career.

“If I didn’t think I could do that, I wouldn’t have gone for this challenge,” he said. “That’s the ideal scenario, but we all know it won’t be easy.

“But I think the LMDh platform allows you to be there quicker than with LMP1; look at Porsche, they decided [to do it] in 2011 and it took a tremendous amount of work and resource before they entered in 2014.”

Lotterer confirmed that he had been in talks to extend this stint with Porsche, after he was not retained for its WEC Hypercar squad on the conclusion of his contract.

“We were on good terms, I could have stayed,” he said.

“I was thinking, as a Porsche fan, we could grow old together, but when we talked together about what they could offer it didn’t stimulate me, not like the Genesis project.”