Three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Andre Lotterer has been dropped from Porsche’s factory World Endurance Championship squad as part of a revamp of its 2025 LMDh line-up.
The veteran of the German manufacturer’s LMP1, Formula E and LMDh campaigns since joining from Audi in 2017, who is on the cusp of this year’s WEC title with Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre, is one of three drivers leaving the twin arms of Porsche Penske Motorsport for next year.
Frederic Makowiecki, like Lotterer part of the WEC Hypercar class squad since 2023, and Dane Cameron, winner of this year’s IMSA SportsCar Championship GTP title with Felipe Nasr, are also departing.
What was described by Porsche as only a “tweak“ of its driver roster programmes involves reducing the full-time line-up from three to two drivers in the WEC.
Vanthoor and Estre, who with Lotterer have a 35-point advantage going into next month’s WEC finale in Bahrain, will race as a duo next year aboard the #6 Porsche 963 LMDh in the regular six-hour races.
Michael Christensen keeps his seat in #5 PPM entry he has shared with Makiowiecki and Matt Campbell this year and will be joined by Julien Andlauer.
The French Porsche factory driver has gained a seat in one of the factory cars after impressing at the wheel of the Proton Competition customer 963 in the WEC this season.
Campbell will return to the IMSA ranks after a solo season in one of the WEC cars and will team up with Mathieu Jaminet in the #6 PPM car in North America.
Cameron’s seat alongside Nasr will be taken by Briton Nick Tandy, who moves over from the sister car he has shared with Jaminet for the past two seasons.
Jaminet and Campbell will respectively join the #5 and #6 crews for Le Mans and, according to Porsche’s press statement announcing the changes, “selected races”.
That can be taken to mean the 10- and eight-hour races in Qatar and Bahrain that will bookend the 2025 WEC season.
Estre and Vanthoor have likewise been nominated to drive the #6 and #7 IMSA cars for selected races in IMSA’s Michelin Endurance Cup.
Frenchman Makowiecki, 43, is leaving Porsche after 11 seasons predominantly in its GT ranks, which included a GTE Pro class win at Le Mans in 2022 and an overall victory in the Nurburgring 24 Hours in 2018.
He and Porsche have “agreed to conclude their collaboration”, read Porsche’s announcement.
It stated that Lotterer and Cameron’s contracts with Porsche expire at the end of this year, but did not specifically state that they are leaving the employment of the manufacturer. When contacted by Motorsport.com, Porsche was unwilling to clarify the drivers' status.
Porsche Motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach said: “I’d like to thank Dane Cameron, Andre Lotterer and Frederic Makowiecki for their incredible work over the past three years [since the 963 started testing in January 2022].
“All three have played a significant role in us being able to celebrate great successes with the Porsche 963 on both sides of the Atlantic - in just the second year of competition.”
PPM’s decision to go to two drivers for the regular six-hour WEC races follows a debate over whether three drivers should be mandated in Hypercar.
It was sparked by the Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac team choosing to use just two drivers in the six-hour WEC races this year.
Running two drivers offers an advantage in terms of track time during practice and, potentially, a strategic benefit in the races.
Moves for a change in rules, led by WRT BMW team boss Vincent Vosse, were rejected after they did not find backing from a majority of manufacturers.
Porsche made play of Andlauer's status as one of its former junior drivers: its statement pointed out that he will become the fourth former junior after Christensen, Jaminet and Campbell to join the PPM 963 squad.
No reference was made to a potential third PPM entry at Le Mans next June, the right to which it has won after claiming the IMSA title.
Laudenbach stated last week that he expected to take up the entry and run an additional car in the double-points WEC round, as Porsche did in 2023 and ’24.
