Oreca welcomes its “well-born” R4 kit

Oreca began the first tests of its R4 kit this week with its development driver Stéphane Sarrazin at the wheel of the Toyota Etios. After a test run carried out this Monday at the Driving Center of the Circuit Paul-Ricard (Var), Hugues de Chaunac's company began testing on dirt on tracks close to the workshop.

The first tests of the Toyota Etios R4 were reassuring since Oreca indicates that "the car proved reliable and efficient", the runs having followed one another without encountering the slightest damage even if the performance of the engine produced at Magny-Cours ( Nièvre) have already been studied.

“From the start, the feeling was good, I immediately felt that the car was easy to drive, it is very agile, explained Stéphane Sarrazin. For a first ride, the balance is already there, even in fast sections. We can already start working on the kit settings, the most interesting part of the development phase. Between the chassis and the engine, it really is the ideal compromise for young people who would like to move from two-wheel drive to four-wheel drive. »

“It was the missing link of the rally. As the manager of my own team, what is very attractive is the fact of buying the kit and building your own car, it is a real challenge for the teams but it offers real freedom in operation . This is an additional step that can allow drivers to progress. What is certain is that the car is born well, since it works from the first drive, and that is the most important thing. »

Stéphane Sarrazin completed 131km at the end of the first day of testing. Oreca has already planned three other test sessions in the coming weeks with courses on dirt and asphalt.

“The work is far from finished, we have to put in the miles, make the kit more reliable, do some fine-tuning, particularly with Stéphane to be efficient and to help all the teams have a reliable and interesting starting point., adds Matthieu Bassou, the project manager of the FIA ​​R4 kit. I arrived at Oreca for this project, with a design office, a new team, and the detachment of the engine part. Ensuring that osmosis is created is a real challenge and seeing the car working like this from the first session confirms that we were right. »  

Oreca hopes to launch the marketing of its R4 kit at the end of the year or early 2018.

Photos of the Toyota Etios R4