Fight Club

André Lotterer 

Le Mans racing driver

André Lotterer was born November 19, 1981 in Duisburg and grew up in Belgium. He has lived in Tokyo since 2003, where he is extremely successful as a racing driver. 2003 through 2015, he drove in the Super Formula (formerly Formula Nippon), winning the championship in 2011. 2003 through 2011, he was also active in the Super GT, securing the championship title in 2006 and 2009. Since 2012, he and his teammates have scored 10 victories and one world championship for Audi. In the same period, he drove ten fastest race laps, including the legendary 3:17.475 minutes in Le Mans last year. It marks the fastest lap ever driven on La Sarthe, with an average speed of 248 km/h. Almost nothing seems to ruffle this likeable driver.

Geri Krähenbühl 

Chief test pilot

Born August 15, 1963, Geri began his flight training and career in 1984 with the Swiss Air Force in a Hawker Hunter. On completing his engineering studies at ETH Zurich, he joined the Swiss Public Procurement Agency (emergency services group) as a test pilot, flying planes such as the Hawker Hunter, Northrop F-5E and various Pilatus types.

He went to the United States Naval Test Pilot School in Maryland, USA as a test pilot in 1993. Two years later, he learnt to fly the F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft in Cecil Field Florida and went on to lead the F/A-18 guided weapons and software integration campaign in China Lake, USA.

Following further posts in the Swiss Air Force, Krähenbühl joined Airbus Defence & Space in Manching, Germany as a test pilot in 2005. As Chief Test Pilot, he is currently flying military jets like the Eurofighter and Tornado as well as the A400M transport plane. He is also one of the few pilots permitted to fly a replica of the Messerschmitt 262 – the world’s first production fighter jet – at air shows.

Audi Magazine (AM): As a test pilot, you have to process a huge amount of information and sensory input at extremely high speeds and sometimes phenomenal g

Krähenbühl: The aircraft helps me do my job with five central systems that give me an overview of all the key information at all times. The cockpit Head Up Display (HUD) and the Helmet-Mounted Display (HMD) provide me with all the important flight data like altitude, velocity and rate of climb. These two systems also show me the critical info for navigation and weaponry.

Then there is the Multifunction Head Down Dis­plays (MHDD) that can be configured as required.

The HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) and DVI (Direct Voice Input) are the main interfaces for communication with the aircraft and for providing input. HOTAS is a multifunctional control stick and throttle where I also have the main functions bundled together – at high g forces it’s hard to reach your arm out to a switch. Even at 2g, your arm is twice as heavy, and the plane can pull up to 9g. Important switches are therefore positioned redundantly on the HOTAS, which I can play with my fingers like a piano. I can also use the throttle to activate voice control and then I have the Night Vision Goggle (NVGs).

AM: What does it feel like to break through the sound barrier (1,226km/h)?

Krähenbühl: In a modern aircraft like the Eurofighter it’s quite unspectacular. There’s just a warning in the airspeed gauge at Mach 0.97. When I was with the Swiss Air Force in the 1980s and still flying the Hawker Hunter it was far more spectacular. First you had to climb to an altitude of 13 kilometres and then drop vertically downwards. Close to the sound barrier, the plane began to vibrate and move side-to-side. 

AM: How fast does the plane climb?

Krähenbühl: From brake release up to flight level of 11,000 metres at Mach 1.3 to 1.4 takes just 90 seconds.

AM: Due to the high g forces, jet pilots like you wear these so-called anti-g suits. How do they work?

Krähenbühl: The suits are connected to the pressurised air from the on-board system and air is pumped in as of 2g turning acceleration. The air presses the fabric together, although it’s not painful. This ensures that blood stays in the head and doesn’t sink into the legs, which, in an extreme case, can cause the pilot to lose consciousness.

AM: In an emergency, you can save yourself from the Eurofighter with an ejector seat. Do you train for that as a pilot, and how often does a forced evacuation like that occur?

Krähenbühl: You can’t really train properly for it. In the past, explosive charges were used in jets to force the seat out. The whole charge went off in one go, sometimes with a high risk of injury to the pilot’s neck. These days we use modern, computer-guided rocket seats. The rocket starts off gently, activating its full power gradually, and also seeks out the correct direction.

AM: The ejector system uses a stabilising parachute – how does that work?

Krähenbühl: It prevents you from starting to spin as you fall, and it’s small enough to allow you to reach a high rate of descent. You have to start off by falling fast, because the temperature at high altitudes is minus 40, minus 50 degrees Celsius and there is only limited oxygen for breathing (there’s a small oxygen bottle in the seat). The descent rates are far higher than with a sports parachute and the same goes for the Eurofighter. The ejector seat is rarely used these days, as most fighter jets now have two engines and the probability of both failing at the same time is pretty low.

AM: You just had the chance to get into our Le Mans race car. What parallels do you see with your workstation in the airplane cockpit?

Krähenbühl: It was a bit shocked by how little you can see out of it – there’s just a tiny slot to look out of, like in a tank. I reckon that must be really demanding in the rain, with the wiper on, reflections and driving at high speed. I also found all the buttons pretty confusing. The clutch and a few other switches are intuitive, even for me, but the rest of the operating logic is extremely unfamiliar to me. 

AM: André, how is the cockpit in your Le Mans race car structured? What’s the logic behind it?

Lotterer: The cockpit is split into the central functions that we use directly and often are accessible on the steering wheel – that ranges from the clutch and gearshift to radio intercom, windshield washer, adjustments of brake balance etc. In the centre of the steering wheel, a display also shows us key vehicle data like lap times, pressures, temperatures and so on. Our AMOLED screen is a digital rear-view mirror, which gives us a perfect view of traffic behind us. The second display shows us the flag signals from the marshals. 

AM: What is your role as driver in the development of the car’s operating logic – do you have a major influence or do you have to live with what the engineers give you?

Lotterer: An excellent team approach has developed over the years. We work very closely together and Audi takes our wishes into account. The engineers don’t develop anything just for the sake of it, but for we six drivers, so that we can race the R18 to the very best of our ability.

AM: You’ve just had the chance to sit in the Eurofighter cockpit. What caught your attention the most and what is less familiar to you?

Lotterer: Obviously the sheer extent of the instruments and possibilities are fascinating. To be honest, a lot of it is unfamiliar to me, because you can hardly compare a car, which moves in two dimensions, with an aircraft that moves in three dimensions. Perhaps people who already have a pilot’s license would be able to grasp the operating logic faster. 

AM: In a fighter jet like the Eurofighter, turning can lead to incredibly high acceleration figures of up to 9g (= nine times body weight). Your race car reaches up to 5g in fast corners. Jet pilots have anti-g suits to be able to cope with this. What kind of training do you do to prepare for races?

Lotterer: We have targeted and intense training sessions to strengthen those parts of the body subject to the highest loads. There’s special training for hands, arms and the upper body that simulate the steering forces. The same goes for the neck muscles steadying your head, including the helmet. Then there are coordination exercises that tune the core and extremities to one another by simulating the work with pedals and steering wheel – and obviously many more training units besides. 

AM: What has been your toughest race so far?

Lotterer: I’ve had a lot of tough races in my career. I’ve been driving for Audi since 2010, but I’ll certainly never forget Le Mans 2011. After two of our teammates had already retired early, responsibility for the most important race of the year fell to Marcel Fässler, Benoît Tréluyer and me. The three of us took turns in the cockpit of the last remaining Audi R18 TDI. On our tail were no fewer than four cars run by our opponent Peugeot. Winning after 24 hours of racing with a lead of just 13.854 seconds was incredibly close and stressful.