The 908 Oreca on its way to the coronation

The crew, still composed of Stéphane Sarrazin, Nicolas lapierre and Olivier Panis, will do everything to repeat his feat in Portugal, ensuring victory at the next meeting in Hungary. If the prototype has the advantage over the competition, the Hungarian track will certainly reveal surprises during the race and the drivers will above all have to ensure they reach the finish without incident.

Since endurance races do not always reward the fastest car, the Oreca team knows that everything remains to be done in Hungary. “ We take the tests one after the other, with great determination to try to win each time. “, commented technical director David Floury. “ Budapest will certainly be a trap race: on a circuit of this type, the gasoline engine prototypes will be dangerous. The traffic will be heavy, and as the pace will be high, you will have to be careful not to make any mistakes. It's up to us to achieve an excellent performance at all levels: drivers and team. »

In addition, this will be the first time that Oreca will compete at the Hungaroring with the Peugeot 908, since the team has not returned to this track since the time when it participated with a GT. “ We have never driven there in LMP1 and our last experience on this track dates back to the Viper days. », continued the technical director. “ We will have to manage this parameter carefully, but we can count on the experience of our pilots. We also looked at the F1 with a little more attention than usual! »

But if the Portimao race served to regain confidence, after the correction of the Audis to 24 Hours of Le Mans, Oreca will have a double objective during the Hungarian round. “ Our counter is no longer blank and we obviously want to obtain the same result as in the Algarve » said David Floury. “ But, as we said before Portimao, we also want to take advantage of this second part of the season to prepare for what comes next: Silverstone, where we will once again face Audi, and more generally 2011. Each race is an opportunity to continue our progress, including in detail. »

Nevertheless, a victory in Hungary would be significant for the current season, securing the Drivers' title for Stéphane Sarrazin. “ Stéphane can be crowned on the evening of Budapest, we can consolidate Peugeot's leadership at Manufacturer level and regain control among the Teams », added Floury. “ But for that, you need victory and that?s the priority! »

Find the presentation of the 1000 km of the Hungaroring in your AUTOhebdo magazine, currently on newsstands.