Coming off two consecutive European Rallycross Championship titles, Oreca will line up at the start of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, supplying engines to teams, including Peugeot-Hansen.
Hansen Motorsport has enjoyed success with Oreca, taking two European Rallycross titles and winning the X-Games. Not wanting to break from a strong partnership, Kenneth Hansen‘s Peugeot Sport-backed team will continue to work with Oreca in the World Championship.
“Those last couple years ORECA has been involved a lot on a technical level, mostly regarding engines, and from our point of view, this cooperation with ORECA is one of the reasons of our success,” said Hansen. “The great team-work between us, the understanding of the needs and capacities is the key. There was no question for Hansen Motorsport : if we started out this project, it had to be with ORECA. When it comes to competition, it is not always a matter of metal, of parts and of power. Engineers able to optimize the materials we have are also needed, and that is what we have with ORECA.”
The result gives Oreca a chance to return to a Peugeot powered team, a partnership that has seen success across the globe and across multiple motorsport platforms. In 1998 and 1999, Oreca, officially representing Peugeot Sport, took the French Rallycross Championship and more recently has taken the Peugeot 908 to victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring and the European Le Mans Series.
“Rallycross takes on a new dimension with the worldwide label and 2014 will surely be a very important season for us,” said Serge Meyer, Director of ORECA’s engine department. “With an excellent work coming from IMG, the discipline has become more and more important every single year, whether it is regarding the quality of the field or the popular enthusiasm. We have built a strong partnership with Hansen Motorsport, a very competitive and experienced team with strong human values. We are very happy to keep on collaborating with them and the birth of Team Peugeot-Hansen only makes the challenge more fascinating. Taking part in such a programme, with a big manufacturer’s involvement, makes us very proud. It is also a great responsibility for our engine department. We are expecting a difficult championship, with some factory efforts and renowned drivers. Actually we are also powering other teams in the World Championship, always with high objectives in mind.”
“It’s fantastic to enter the inaugural season of World RX with the support of ORECA and to have such a big brand behind Peugeot-Hansen,” concluded the Managing Director of the FIA World Rallycross Championship for IMG Motorsport, Martin Anayi. “They have been hugely successful in rallycross so far, and I have no doubt that their technical expertise and professionalism will play a crucial role in Peugeot-Hansen’s 2014 campaign. The four-cylinder turbo engines provided by ORECA combined with the Peugeot 208 will look spectacular on the track and will help position our sport as one of the most exciting motorsport championships on the planet.”
