Oreca combines innovation and continuity

In compliance with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest regulations, Team ORECA has nominated the first driver for its ORECA 01, should its entry be accepted for the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours. The team has opted for continuity with a driver it’s known for a long time, Soheil Ayari. The Frenchman is a regular in the Signes-designed prototypes: last June he came fifth in the Le Mans 24 Hours with Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre. Thanks to his experience he will be the lead driver in the ORECA 01.

What is new for the 2010 season is that the ORECA 01 will run on Dunlop tyres, which shod last year’s LMP2 and LMGT1 title winners. The manufacturer will be making its return to LMP1, and will equip the prototype that won the final round of the Le Mans Series, the Silverstone 1000kms.

“In the context of its endurance programme, Dunlop has decided to take the final step and enter the LM P1 category again,” explains Hugues de Chaunac. “We had very fruitful discussions with the company and we decided to run the ORECA 01 on Dunlop rubber. Dunlop’s decision to come back to the top category is proof of the interest that the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Le Mans Series generate for tyre manufacturers, and also the attraction exercised by the ORECA 01 prototype, which showed its potential during the 2009 season.”