GT Tour, ORECA reacts to an unacceptable situation caused by the FFSA
As promoter, at the request of the FFSA (French Federation of Auto Racing), of the French GT Championship since 2011, the ORECA Group would like to react to the declarations made by the circuits commission president Dominique Roger following the first round of the 2016 season at Nogaro. These statements provoked a chain reaction and were followed by an SRO press release – « SRO Motorsports Group reaches out to the FFSA ». ORECA is obviously very surprised by the timing of this announcement, a few hours after Dominique Roger’s statements.
Hugues de Chaunac, president of the ORECA Group :
« I’m totally thunderstruck, on one hand from the declarations of the FFSA circuits commission president, representing the FFSA president, about the future of GT racing in France ; and on the other hand, the announcement made by SRO of a new GT series in France starting in 2017.
« These statements, which don’t reflect my idea of what the FFSA stands for, are quite simply unacceptable towards the teams and drivers who have shown remarkable support to the GT Tour series and to our partners with whom we have built this championship.
« We have never given up on the FFSA French GT Championship. We have always stood by the FFSA, even in difficult times. I personally was on the front lines, taking hits that weren’t mine to take. Everyone knows the real reasons why several teams and drivers decided to leave the championship. ORECA had the option to stop being the series promoter in 2016, but we decided to continue because of our loyalty and conviction. »
Nine cars were entered in the first round of the FFSA French GT and Prototype Championship at Nogaro. ORECA, the promoter, which has consistently worked and fought for bigger grid numbers. An entry list of 12-15 cars was expected for Lédenon. For the Nogaro race weekend, Hugues de Chaunac, president of the ORECA Group, was once again present to listen, discuss and exchange ideas with various actors in the championship and to renew his support to the teams present – teams who had shown the same support to the discipline a few weeks before. This seems not to be the case for the FFSA. « We made the mistake of coming to Nogaro with so few cars » said Dominique Roger, FFSA circuits commission president (“La Dépêche” newspaper, March 29).
ORECA does not regret attending the FFSA French GT Championship at Nogaro. The continuation of the championship depended on it. The FFSA, through the declarations made by Dominique Roger, representing the Federation’s president, seems to have already moved on. « We must find a new top series. We’ve anticipated a bit this possibility for the past two years » (“La Dépêche” newspaper, March 29). These surprising declarations were made by the FFSA circuits commission president. Given the context, it’s obviously more difficult to pull together more entries.
The ORECA Group will now give itself time to think about what decisions are best adapted to the situation.