In 2012 the ORECA 03 LMP2 chassis had a great year, taking the most wins in the FIA World Endurance Championship, a podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and taking the championship in the European Le Mans Series.
For 2013 ORECA are looking to build on their success and continue onwards to global domination of the LMP2 class.
The ORECA 03 chassis is now in its third year and was on at least one step of the podium in every race it competed in, six wins, three poles and a finishing rate of 87%. Rule restrictions mean that no performance enhancing work can be done to the chassis but the manufacturer has developed the safety aspect of the car.
David Floury, ORECA Technical Director explains: “We worked on several different points noted last year, things that we went over during debriefings with our customer teams to have the best results.
“The ORECA 03 is taking on its third season and the reliability has been relatively good, but we can always improve that. We’ve made evolutions to the car as a result, while keeping in mind the ease for mechanical intervention.”
A total of Eight ORECA 03 chassis will be participating in the 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside three in the FIA WEC and a further six in the European Le Mans Series.
Boutsen Ginion Racing, Delta-ADR, G-Drive Racing, Murphy Prototypes, Pecom Racing, Sébastien Loeb Racing, Signatech and Thiriet by TDS Racing will all be powered by ORECA’s own engine.
“The LMP2 field is simply superb and we are happy to be the most well-represented manufacturer, and that our engine department is also highly visible, powering a total of 10 autos” admits Floury.
2013 marks an important milestone in the history of ORECA as it enters its fortieth year and Floury is optimistic there will be another chassis on the grid at Le Mans.“I’m hoping to see a ninth chassis at the start, with Race Performance being the first on the list of reserve cars: they are a team that have been loyal to the Le Mans series for several years.
“Everytime they have competed at Le Mans, they have finished and they deserve to be at the start. With six ORECA 03 in ELMS and three in FIA-WEC, the season is looking promising. We will have a triple objective: win, win and win!”
With ORECA-FLM 09 cars entered in to the American Le Mans Series LM PC class Floury believes at lead one 03 LMP2 could be present at the 12 Hours of Sebring.
“That’s our hope; The merger between the ALMS and Grand-Am offers the prospect of a very good championship that will combine three legendary races – Daytona, Sebring and Petit Le Mans – and classics like Laguna Seca. It’s very attractive and ORECA wants to be in a position to battle for the overall win in this series, whatever the type of cars, LM P2 or Daytona Prototypes.”
