THE ORECA 07, READY FOR THE ENGLISH BATTLE
For the European Le Mans Series contenders the off-season is about to come to an end. On April 14th and 15th, the greatest European endurance series will be in Silverstone for the first of six rounds. For the three teams entering an ORECA 07, it is time for confrontation on track, racing against other manufacturers, and there’s a feeling of excitement in the air…
Out of the twelve cars expected for the opening race of the season in the LM P2 class, four will be ORECA 07, entrusted to Graff Racing, G Drive Racing and DragonSpeed. While the American and Russian teams have already competed in that category, it will be a first for the French squad, following on a year of ‘apprenticeship’ in the ELMS, in LM P3. For its first fo, Pascal Rauturier’s team will not shy away from the challenge, having decided to enter two ORECA 07: one driven by Trouillet-Petit-Guibbert (#39) and the other by Allen-Matelli-Bradley (#40).
As for DragonSpeed (#21), Elton Julian, who is now supported by Nicolas Minassian in terms of team management, will rely on trio Hedman-Hanley-Lapierre, the latter having to switch between different cars throughout the weekend for he will also be competing in the World Endurance Championship – other drivers are also in a similar case. Benefiting from DragonSpeed’s technical support, G Drive Racing’s car (#22) will have new trio Rojas-Hirakawa-Roussel behind its wheel.
Though some crews across the LM P2 class will probably not be fighting for victory, considering the overall drivers’ standings, most contenders in that category are still preparing themselves for a great race. They will struggle to get on the podium! As we are getting closer to this English battle, ORECA teams show confidence.
Pascal Rauturier (Graff): “We need to be careful and not consider the outcome of Monza’s practice sessions as a perfect reflection of everybody’s level, because we all worked on different aspects and with different sets of objectives. No doubt that the ORECA 07 is very competitive and the overall performances achieved there were great. We have used these practice sessions to sort some things out and try out different setup solutions, but right from the first day our technical choices proved successful. We’ve got a solid base from where to go now. Let’s not forget that we’re a young team in a very high-level competition. Our aim at Silverstone will be to make no mistake, whether in the pits or on track. If everybody carries out their tasks correctly, there’s no reason for things to go wrong. We’re lucky to have a powerful car and these sessions confirmed what the tendency was during the winter tests. The information and advice exchanged with ORECA is great. The collaboration is going perfectly well and we are confident about what’s to come next.”
Elton Julian (DragonSpeed Racing): “Our European season started off with the practice sessions in Monza and I’m 
very glad with how it went. As far as I know, we haven’t had a single issue and that has enabled us to progress. We conducted hard work, trying different configurations in order to prepare the race there, as well as Silverstone’s and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We’ve looked at different options regarding setups which meant that we had to be in the pits for quite a while sometimes. But it’s a normal process when using a new car. ORECA’s performances are definitely encouraging and we’re confident even though we have to remain wise and careful as things can change quickly in motorsport. It was important for us to define a good range of setup options, and we did so. Nicolas Lapierre tried out a number of things and the results were very promising. Of course, it’s very likely to be raining in Silverstone and even though there was lots of rain when racing in Daytona too, the track was too specific there and tyres too different for this experience to benefit us. We’re really looking forward to Silverstone, though we’re all also running after time at the moment!”
The ELMS 4 Hours of Silverstone will start on Saturday April 15th at 2.30pm.