For the second edition back to back, ORECA is about to return to the American twice around the clock with eight chassis entered in total. Each year, the 24 Hours of Daytona (Rolex 24 Hours) stand as the opening race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, launching the season. Having come back to Daytona last year, with the ORECA 07 having taken its first steps over there, ORECA will once again tackle the Daytona challenge this year, entering eight prototypes: six ORECA 07s and two DPis developed with Acura.

ORECA 07, exported overseas

2017 marked the beginning of the ORECA 07 in competition as well as its commercial launch. The LM P2 prototype first took to the track at the 24 Hours of Daytona, with three teams entering one car each. This meant a lot to the French manufacturer from Le Var (France), returning to the layout where the legendary Viper had won before with Team ORECA.

With excellent performances and great results, 2017 was a very successful year for the ORECA 07 which won people’s heart across the world, most particularly in the United States. Actually, four of the six ORECA 07 chassis competing this season are entered by American teams.

JDC Miller Motorsport were among the first to order and compete with the new ORECA 07, putting their trust in it. During its first season, John Church’s team never stopped progressing and improving. They will be picking that momentum up in 2018, entering a second ORECA 07.

New teams will also join JDC Miller Motorsport. Performance Tech Motorsports, former contender and defending title in the Le Mans Prototype Challenge with an ORECA FLM-09, and winner in class in Daytona last year, will be one of them. Moreover, talented, versatile and successful team CORE autosport will also enter an ORECA 07. Drivers Jon Bennett and Colin Braun, who are getting on very well within their duo whether in LM PC or in GRC Lites (Rallycross), will be stacking the odds in their favour for this new adventure as 2017 winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Romain Dumas and Loic Duval will come and join them.

Jackie Chan DC Racing, LM P2 winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year, will also be on track with two ORECA 07s entrusted to renowned crews (No. 37: Stroll/Rosenqvist/juncadella/Frijns and No. 78: Tung/Brundle/Da Costa/Habsburg-Lothringen). The Chinese team took up many challenges and triumphed in 2017. They will try to continue doing so this year, participating in both the FIA World Endurance Championship, and the Asian Le Mans Series, but also entering the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Two DPi prototypes developed in collaboration with Acura and Team Penske, Acura ARX-05, will complete this little squadron of ORECAs. This is another major challenge for ORECA as the DPi class is particularly competitive with Cadillac, Mazda and Nissan. Team Penske will rely on two high-level trios to face this tough competition: Cameron/Montoya/Pagenaud will be on board the No. 6 car and Castroneves/Rahal/Taylor behind the wheel of the No. 7.

“For its debut in competition, the ACURA ARX-05 will be tackling a major challenge: a 24-hour race – as did the 2017 LM P2s and DPis which first took to the track at the 24 Hours of Daytona” says ORECA Group Technical Director David Floury. “Team Penske is a top team. Together with HPD they’ve been able to test and develop the car during several practice sessions. Yet, there’s nothing like a race, so we’re going to learn a lot against such competitive contenders, that’s for sure. We’ll still aim for a great result though.”

With eight cars on track in Daytona – which is a first for the French manufacturer – David Floury looks back on this success story: “This development is the result of several factors. First the IMSA has done an excellent work, putting in place a platform that enables both DPis and LM P2s to cohabit. This has attracted many teams, also from Europe. The other factor is that everybody – including manufacturers racing against us – has recognised the ORECA 07 as best prototype. That’s why the car has become a great commercial success.”

The ROAR has set the pace

In order to best prepare the first round of the season, all ORECA teams took part in the ‘Roar before 24 Hours’ at the begining of january. They spent three days conducting test sessions under real conditions, confronting competition and getting familiar once again with Daytona’s legendary layout.

“The Roar has allowed teams to get to know the ORECA 07 – as well as the DPi Acura ARX-05 – and a first pecking order arose”, says David Floury. “ORECA’s customer competition service aims to bring the best support to customer teams and to help them reach the best result possible. This edition’s entry list is fantastic. We’re going to see hotly-contested races. We’re looking forward to being on track, we’ll be fighting every second.”            
With eight cars entered, 2018 promises to be intense and enriching for all. For all races there is always one objective: to give one’s best and clinch the best result! See you on Saturday 27^th January, from 2.40pm local time, for the first round!