Signatech-Alpine races its way to victory in LM P2 with an ORECA chassis!
Twelve months after KCMG with the ORECA 05, it is once again an ORECA chassis that wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LM P2 class! Designed and manufactured by ORECA Technology, Signatech-Alpine’s Alpine A460 clinched victory with Nicolas Lapierre, who had already win in 2015, and rookies Gustavo Menezes and Stéphane Richelmi. With a reliable and efficient car, the three men delivered a flawless performance and won, more than two minutes ahead of G-Drive Racing’s ORECA 05 entrusted to Roman Rusinov, René Rast and Will Stevens.
This is a historic success not only for Alpine, which also ranked fifth overall, but for ORECA too which becomes the first manufacturer since Porsche (2008-2009) to win twice back to back in the increasingly competitive and qualitative LM P2 class comprising no less than 23 prototypes. The ORECA chassis, with V8 Nissan prepared at Magny-Cours engine department, have been in the lead during the 24 hours. They achieved a double win, while a third one end up in the Top 5: Eurasia Motorsport and driver lineup Jun-Jin Pu, Nick De Bruin and Tristan Gommendy.
This outcome is all the more convincing as it is completed by G-Drive Racing’s pole and Manor’s fastest lap in race. Murphy Prototypes’s and Race Performance’s ORECA 03R also made it to the chequered flag. Manor and Thiriet by TDS Racing have led for a while before having to retire from the race, having run off track. KCMG and Baxi DC Racing-Alpine also had to withdraw after having been amongst the leaders.
What they’ve said.
“To win with the ORECA 05 and KCMG last year was a great joy. It’s once again an amazing feeling to see Alpine and Signatech win with an ORECA chassis” ORECA Technology’s design bureau Director Christophe Guibbal confides. “We really wanted to live such a success again as a manufacturer, but we also were fully aware that realizing your potential is probably one of the most difficult things to do. The ORECA chassis have always been in control, yet it wasn’t an easy race. It was stressful. Thanks to the excellent performances delivered by the teams and drivers, we’ve been able to go beyond the objective we’d set ourselves. We’ve improved and got a double. It’s a true satisfaction, a fantastic reward for the entire ORECA Group and once again some more motivation for what’s up next: the second part of the season to begin with, then the ORECA 07’s first shakedown – a car that will be defending this double title in 2017!”
“It’s always difficult to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, thus to do it twice in a row is just incredible” Nicolas Lapierre notes (No. 36 Alpine A460/Signatech-Alpine). “It wasn’t really the best start for us in terms of tyres and encountering difficulties in the pits. We had to attack to come back, then we had to top off fluid levels, but finally we made it to the first position quite quick. The car was fast, racing at a good pace and we were able to push or to control when needed. My teammates did a fabulous job, we only encountered a few issues and the car was intact by the end of the race, which is quite something in Le Mans. It was also lots of pressure to feel like you’re already being chased at mid-race. I’m very happy with this win. With the whole Signature team, we’ve got a common history and after having won together in Macao, it’s great to add Le Mans to our prize list. It’s also very special to race in France for such a brand as Alpine.”
“It was a long race!” Nick De Brujin says, smiling (No. 33 ORECA 05/Eurasia Motorsport). “It was so exciting, my first go at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, I’ve really appreciated the night shifts. We’ve had a difficult beginning but we fought our way back. For a first in Le Mans, it was really enriching. The car behaved perfectly. It could always be better and some bits and bobs can be optimized but we’ve done our best. Also, now that we’ve clocked the fastest time – on the Test Day – we’re fully aware of the car’s potential. It was a really sensational experience. We’re going to continue to work in order to show what we can do and to try to be one of the leaders in the future.”
“We were right in the middle of a solid race and so we’re obviously really disappointed with this withdrawal” Thiriet by TDS Racing Team Manager Xavier Combet confides. “We started from the 7th place and went onto leading very quickly. The drivers were great. Mathias performed like we expected him to, Ryo’s driving was outstanding for a first hour here and Pierre clocked an excellent lap time. Despite a little issue with the power steering, the car behaved perfectly well. We were on it. The team did a great job, the mechanics achieved lightning quick pit stops. All of these things encouraged us to project a very interesting result. But unfortunately it didn’t work in our favour with this crash. These things happen in Le Mans. The entire team is just remarkable. We were chasers in the qualifying and then became the ones being chased, we were always in the lead.”
“I’m obviously very disappointed that we had to withdraw” Tsugio Matsuda declares (No. 47 ORECA 05/KCMG). “It’s a shame but these 24 Hours of Le Mans will remain a fantastic experience. Though we didn’t get as much time as our rivals to test the ORECA 05 before the event, we were clearly racing at the right pace and I’m really proud of what the team has achieved. The mechanics and engineers have done an excellent job to prepare the car. And let’s not forget that we were fighting within the Top 3 throughout the first six hours of the race. I want to say special thanks to all of our fans and I hope to be back with the team next year”.
“The race went well, we finish second and there’s obviously some disappointment in the air because we were there to win and not only to show that we could go fast” René Rast admits (No. 26 ORECA 05/G-Drive Racing). “The car worked really well. We didn’t encounter one single issue, it’s fast and easy to handle which makes it a very good endurance car. The next stage is our next race and we’re going to continue to fight for the title.”
Race report.
#36 & #35. The two Alpine A460, designed and manufactured by ORECA, started from the second and third places on the grid. After fifty minutes under the safety car because of heavy rain, ‘les Bleus’ remained in the lead as the green flag was waved. However the two cars struggled at their first refueling. On board the No. 36, Nicolas Lapierre pushed hard and came back from the 12th to the 3rd row during his quadruple stint. Gustavo Menezes and Sétphane Richelmi successively replaced him and stayed within the leading trio. The Alpine A460 picked up momentum and showed up at the first place several times, despite having to top off fluid levels during H9. The car took control of LM P2 class halfway into the race and would never let go of it. What came next was the perfect performance: stints succeeded one another at a high pace while the team kept on changing tyres and refueling. The gap widened up to about one lap at H18. It remained that way and the No. 36 crossed the finish line first, more than two minutes ahead of the first contender down the road.
The efforts of sister car, entrusted to Manciatici/Ho Pin Tung/Cheng, didn’t get rewarded the same way. Out of the Top 10 after the first hour, the No. 35 gradually caught up thanks to a flawless performance. 7th midway through the race, it came back to the 4th place by the end of H16. Unfortunately it crashed early in the morning and had to withdraw.
#26. With their third pole back to back in the FIA WEC, G-Drive Racing kept control during the first hour. Slightly off in terms of strategy, then having to endure a slow puncture (H3) as well as to serve a drive-through penalty (H6), the No. 26 ORECA 05 quickly came back towards the front of the race. The fast Rast/Rusinov/Stevens trio constantly stayed within the Top 3, clinching the first place in class on several occasions. It’s finally at dawn that the No. 26 had to let go facing the future winner, suffering from a one-minute penalty. Despite a perfect last third of the race, the Russian team ended up on the second step of the podium.
#33. After a delicate first hour, following on a sensor problem, Eurasia Motorsport delivered a solid performance for its first visit to La Sarthe. Pu Jun-Jin/De Bruin/Gommendy demonstrated consistency and avoided pitfalls. Back in the Top 10 at the beginning of H7, the No. 33 ORECA 05 progressed overnight to finally enter the Top 5 in H17. The team never went back down in the rankings and clinched a very positive result for its first go at the 24 Hours, and with two rookies.
Though not rewarded this time, the three other ORECA 05 have also shone during this 84th edition. Starting from the 7th place, Thiriet by TDS Racing reached the Top 3 right from the beginning of H2. Particularly efficient, Beche/Hirakawa/Thiriet’s No. 46 car then took the lead, a good minute ahead of runner-up by the end of the first quarter. After a quick work on power steering, the French team always remained amongst the leading contenders. It was still fighting for victory as the sun rose, before having to retire from the race because it had gone off the track at Mulsanne (H17). For their debut in La Sarthe, Manor have encountered similar disappointment. In the first place after Roberto Mehri’s impressive quintuple stint, the No. 44 ORECA 05 first swung around and lost a couple of seconds, then had to deal with a starter issue (H7) and went off track (H9). The British contenders moved down in the rankings. Merhi/Graves/Rao’s adventure stopped in late morning after a crash (H21). Finally, KCMG which were defending their title, did remind their rivals the great contenders they are. In third position for a while, the trio Bradley/Howson/Matsuda showed an excellent level of competitiveness before encountering an electrical issue which forced the No. 47 to give up (H10).
The two ORECA 03R that also took to the track made it to the chequered flag. After different incidents during the race, Murphy prototypes ranked 15th with Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekmolen and Marc Gossens; Race Performance 17th with Nicolas Leutwiler, Shinji Nakano and James Winslow.
The next race for ORECA LM P2 chassis will take place at the Red Bull Ring on July 16th-17th.