ORECA 07 DOES NOT GO UNNOTICED AT THE 12 HOURS OF SEBRING
For the second round of the WeatherTech Sportscars Championship, and 65th edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring, the ORECA 07 has shown its amazing potential again, particularly with a pole position clinched by Rebellion Racing during the practice sessions as well as with JDC-Miller Motorsports’s long fight for the podium and final fourth place overall.
Two ORECA 07 competed in this second classic endurance race of the season: Rebellion Racing’s (#13) with drivers Buemi/Jani/Heidfeld and JDC-Miller Motorsports’s entrusted to Simpson/Goikhber/Miller.
This challenge was as tough as Daytona’s for LM P2 ORECA prototypes. JDC-Miller Motorsport shown the 07’s potential by achieving the fastest time in the first free practice sessions. The following day, Rebellion Racing confirmed this great start, thanks to Neel Jani who, for the 07’s very first race on the legendary track of Florida, took the car to the pole position, in front of several Cadillac DPis! An incredible achievement considering how demanding the track is, the ORECA 07 demonstrated an excellent level of competitiveness with a two-tenth gap only between the Top 3 contenders at the end of the session.
Neel Jani confirmed the performances posted during the free practice and qualifying sessions, throughout the whole first stint, showing up in first place in front of the DPis. The current World Endurance Champion stayed in the lead until heading into the pits for the first refuelling. Alas, after this first racing phase, Rebellion Racing was about to face some difficulties. First of all the team had to serve a drive through penalty for a pit lane infringement; but the ORECA 07 managed to stay close to the leaders, racing fast, at an excellent pace. Yet unfortunately the No. 13 eventually had to slow down due to an electrical problem.
As for JDC-Miller Motorsport, they played their cards right, and even reached the 2nd place, three hours into the race. For most of it, Miller-Simpson-Goikhberg behind the wheel maintained themselves within the overall Top 3, until eventually ceding their place at sunset and finally coming 4th and 1st LM P2. For the young squad coming from the LM PC class, this result confirmed the very promising performance delivered in Daytona.
With Rebellion Racing’s great efficiency in the qualifying sessions and at the beginning of the race, and JDC-Miller Motorsport amongst the leading trio throughout most of the race, the ORECA 07 have delivered a strong performance, boding well for the rest of the season. A positive signal before the official ELMS and WEC pre-season tests scheduled in a week or so in Monza.