Andre Lotterer has made a shock return to a Formula E car today as he begins an initial programme of testing with the Stellantis Motorsport-run Gen4 development car at the Monteblanco circuit in Spain.
The former DS Techeetah, Porsche and Andretti driver last competed in Formula E in 2023. But he has been drafted into the initial development of the brand new Gen4 car for Stellantis after a surprise call-up.
The Race has learned that Lotterer, who is part of Hyundai’s Genesis Magma Racing Hypercar squad, is sharing the cockpit this week with Citroen Racing driver Nick Cassidy as manufacturers start initial reliability running of the test cars in a group test at the Monteblanco circuit in southern Spain. He has been in action this morning as the manufacturers’ cars hit the track for the first time.
Three days of running today, Thursday and Saturday are taking place this week with five cars in action. In addition to Stellantis, the Nissan, Jaguar, Lola and Porsche teams are putting miles on their hardware at Monteblanco.
Lotterer has joined his sometime Le Mans 24 Hours winning Audi team-mate Benoit Treluyer at the test as Treluyer is driving for Nissan this week. Like Stellantis, Nissan has opted for a non-race driver in the early development phase.
Jaguar is using its new reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne and fresh race driver Antonio Felix da Costa, while Lola has three drivers available with its regular driver pairing of Lucas di Grassi and Zane Maloney joined by its sometime tester Hugh Barter.
Although Lotterer hasn’t raced for over two years he has stayed close to Formula E in his role as an analyst and co-commentator for the series’ official broadcast, a role he expects to continue for the coming season in company with his former sporting manager at Techeetah and fellow Gen4 tester, James Rossiter, as well as new recruit Sam Bird who is expected to be confirmed in a pundit role shortly.
