Rally de Portugal : First revealing challenge for the Team ORECA

The Team ORECA’s WRC2 and WRC3 programme will soon start at the Rally de Portugal, with two crews entered: Eric Camilli and Benjamin Veillas on board of the Ford Fiesta R5 in WRC2; Teemu Suninen and Mikko Markulla at the wheel of a DS3 R3 Max in WRC3. Supporting the two drivers, members of TMG’s Junior Driver Development Programme, the French team remains humble as this Portuguese challenge will mark its return to rally, a discipline that has brought many successes in the past.

Hugues de Chaunac: “Humility is our watchword”
Having been familiar with endurance challenges for several seasons, including by bringing its operational support to Toyota’s Le Mans project, ORECA is now about to come back to the world of rally. The French squad has met success on many occasions in rally, in the early 2000s, on national, European and even international levels for the Juniors. Actually, the team ORECA has decided to rely on young talents for this return, entering two promising drivers in WRC2 and WRC3.
 “Many new components are awaiting us in this Rally de Portugal” says ORECA President Hugues de Chaunac. “The team is still learning with its drivers as well as its cars, and we haven’t competed in rally for many years. For those reasons, humility is our watchword. All the more as the WRC2 is a very competitive class. That means that we will pit against tough teams and drivers that are efficient and reliable. We’re experienced but we have to find our bearings facing those experts. We’re highly motivated and greatly impatient to be back to that context which we’ve been missing all those years… We’re looking forward to gauging ourselves. Both drivers and team are aware of the objective: it’s about learning or learning again, not making mistakes and crossing the finish line. Those three aspects go together and constitute our main focus. I trust everybody to do their utmost so that we can be as competitive as possible.”

Eric Camilli : “I really want to perform well”
Member of the FFSA French Rally Team, Eric Camilli is also part of the TMG’s Junior Driver Development Programme. Though he has raced in WRC2 before, his performance at the latest Monte Carlo Rally did not go unnoticed at all, the driver from Nice will take his first steps in competition, racing on gravel with a four-wheel-drive car. His objectives are defined accordingly. “We will be discovering not only that rally, but also the type of surface with this car” explains Eric. “We’ve got a lot to learn and we’ll have to get our bearings. We’ll take each stage one after the other and we’ll try to constantly make progress. We really want to perform well.”
Eric Camilli and Benjamin Veillas will compete at the heart of an impressive WRC2 class, not only because of the high number of contenders but also of their quality. “The list of entrants is impressive and we know that high level won’t make it easy for us. But confronting those difficulties will make us progress even more. We could have never hoped for a better first challenge. Our test sessions went well and have set up a good momentum. We’ve had good feelings straight away.”

Teemu Suninen : “Garnering as much experience as possible”
21 years old only, it will be Teemu Suninen’s second start in WRC3. The first one, last year, led to a win, at home, in Finland. For the young Scandinavian, the Rally de Portugal will all be about discovering, with co-driver Mikko Markulla and member of TMG’s Junior Driver Development Programme. “This is a brand new rally for me, therefore my objective is to garner as much experience as possible and to cross the finish line” confides Teemu. “I’ve developed my pace notes so that I can adapt better to European stages and our first test session was great. I’ll have to get used again to a two-wheel-drive car. The key is to go flat out while staying on the road without any trouble. I’m feeling excited and can’t wait to the start of the season!”    

In order to get ready for the Rally de Portugal, the Team ORECA has had a test session in the South of France. Five other stages are scheduled in the squad’s programme for the 2015 season.