The Oreca 05 takes to the track

The World ChampionshipEndurance 2015 will be one of the playgrounds of the latest addition to Oreca’s Var workshops, called 05, who yesterday made his first laps on the Paul Ricard route in the Var, with on board Stephane Sarrazin.

“The car is very healthy and I quickly felt comfortable behind the wheel, explains the pilot Toyota en Endurance, qui est également l’une des pièces majeures de la firme japonaise dans the development of the Yaris WRC. It is easy to handle, consistent in its behavior. It is particularly agile in winding sections: it?s nice for a driver to have a car that reacts so well. The finish of the ORECA 05 is impressive. We feel the full Oreca experience, particularly in the way the whole thing has been designed. Technically, we did not encounter the slightest problem and this allowed us to work well. The car is well born, there is no doubt about it. It?s always nice to do the first laps of a new prototype. I had a lot of fun. »

Oreca worked for this first real test session hand in hand with KCMGMore, the team based in Hong Kong, which will enter the LM P2 prototype in WEC and therefore to 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 13-14). “It’s also a way to strengthen ties and work more efficiently, admits David Floury, Technical Director of Oreca. This is important to us. Stéphane?s feedback is positive, which reassures us in the choices made both on a purely technical level and with regard to parameters such as ergonomics. Obviously, there are always small details to be sorted out, but what we saw during the first run gives us hope. The Oreca 05 has already shown the qualities expected of it. We still have to refine all of this, in collaboration with our customer teams. »

In addition to the KCMG team, Thiriet by TDS Racing will also field an 05 in 2015, but on the European scene.ELMS, in addition to the double Sarthois clock tower. The Oreca 05 will find its big sister 03R on the track this season, still entered by several teams this season.