"In 1984, this 911 shook the walls of my school. Thirty years later, I had the opportunity to become an official Porsche driver… It's come full circle."

SLOW DOWN SCHOOL

André Lotterer, a German racing driver, fluent in French, and three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has had a lifelong passion for Porsches. He recalls one of his earliest memories.

One day, when I couldn't have been more than four years old, Dad took me to kindergarten in a car he was preparing. It was a Porsche 911 SC/RS Group B, nicknamed "Belga." He was the technical director of the RAS Sport team in Belgium at the time. For testing purposes, he allowed himself a few accelerations and rally-style corners, but tucked into the back of the bucket seat, I was barely tall enough to see the sky and the treetops lining the road. The intense, resonant vibrations that coursed through my body when I was just a toddler have remained etched in my memory.

This early experience certainly contributed to forging my passion for speed and motorsport. From a very young age, I knew what I wanted to do, lulled by the vibrations of the engines my father would run on the dyno while I played among the cars parked in the racing workshop. I was around drivers whom I quickly wanted to emulate, and I spent a lot of time in the paddocks. This atmosphere captivated me, and I wanted to make it my world.

It was my father who made me the driver I am today, a driver he himself would likely have loved to be. I owe him my custom-made Stand 21 racing suits, my gleaming, meticulously prepared karts... Some will say he lived his dream through me. Others that he was one of those fathers whose ambition for their children is so boundless it becomes tyrannical, like with the Williams sisters. But his sole motivation was the love he had for me, his desire to see me achieve my own dreams. We were fortunate to share a common passion. For a father and son, that's priceless. Today, I make a living from that passion—how lucky I am!

I didn't have the same adolescence as my friends, who went out partying on Saturday nights, but I never gave up. He devoted all his free time to me, following me to all the circuits, weekends and holidays. Despite his extensive knowledge of the sport, my father had to make some additional financial sacrifices, and sometimes we had to tighten our belts. He could count on the unconditional support of my mother. My mother, in fact, knew how to be more lenient than him, allowing me to live a more typical teenage life. The students my age and the teachers didn't really understand my parents, who allowed me to miss classes for training or competitions. The day after a report on  When TV showed my first karting exploits, everyone in the schoolyard suddenly became interested in me. Later, I even learned that a photo of me was still hanging in a classroom at the high school and that the teachers used me as an example to explain that you should always hold on to your dreams and work hard.

All these memories resurfaced, of course, when I found myself for the first time, in 2011, on the top step of the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That day, I realized that my parents had succeeded in their mission by instilling in me a sense of dedication and hard work. Without them, I would never have had the tenacity that allowed me to reach that point, on that small footbridge overlooking the crowd, giving me, for a few minutes, the feeling of being a rock star. 

I'm going to try for a fourth victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans next June, but my passion for cars goes far beyond driving. In fact, I've put together a collection in which the "Belga" would fit perfectly. When I'm driving around the roads of Vaucluse in one of my 911s, I sometimes think back to that trip to kindergarten, to the thrills I felt that day. That's kind of where it all started, so thanks, Dad!

"A family photo taken during a 'normal' weekend at the Lotterer's house in the 1980s."

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