Le Mans – With the 05, Oreca is banking on the future

With in particular anti-intrusion “zylon” panels preventing mechanical elements from penetrating the chassis in the event of an accident and an approved rear crash box, the Oreca design office, in designing the 05 (of which you can find new photos here), was not content with developing an LM P2 with the new rules, since certain technologies, such as these “zylon” panels, are not made compulsory by the category regulations. But it is undeniably a plus in terms of safety. At 1900 m wide, the 05 is ahead of the new regulations due to emerge in 2017. And this in such a way as to make this new car convertible when the time comes and therefore to limit the medium-term investment of interested teams. . The weight and the center of gravity, and therefore the distribution of masses, were also the center of attention of the Var engineers. The weak points of the 03, such as the starter and the power steering, made electric, have been erased. The gearbox, for its part, has a more compact casing.

“The Oreca 05 is a continuation of our development strategy for the manufacturer activity with an operating plan over several years, explains David Floury, the technical director. The 03 was successful and its story is not over. The objective of the Oreca 05 is to continue this momentum? and win Le Mans. We are on a mission! This program is ambitious, at all levels, but Le Mans is clearly one of the priorities, just like the USA (and the United SportsCar Championship. Editor’s note) by 2016. We have sought to optimize everything, like the weight where we believe we have a truly radical approach compared to our competitors. We are starting a project that will take us until 2020, which is how important it is! The 05 is one of Oreca?s showcases, but it is not the only one. This is the latest project. So it is logically the one that attracts the most attention, with the Rebellion R-One in LM P1, for which we are currently managing the implementation of a new engine. These are two very interesting projects. »

As a reminder, two 05s will be on track at the start of the season, namely that of KCMGMore aligned in WEC and that of Thiriet by TDS Racing registered in ELMS.