Oreca Racing

Hugues de Chaunac’s men finished practice in seventh and eighth positions, and in the race they moved up the hierarchy with the two ORECA prototypes that showed all their potential. Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre were in contention for victory until they ran into a transmission problem. After losing a lap behind the safety car, their sister car in the hands of Bruno Senna and Stéphane Ortelli took up the chase, and made a fighting comeback to third spot. Before the arrival of the new aero kit at Spa, the Team ORECA-Matmut-AIM has kicked off its season with a rostrum finish, a first reward for all the work done this winter.

Stéphane Ortelli (n°10 – 3rd) :
“We didn’t have an easy time in practice. We weren’t satisfied with the balance. But the team put in a lot of work and we had a much better car for the race. Once the circuit had rubbered in we felt it was handling well. I had just got up to second when I heard a loud bang. It’s frustrating to retire when you’re so well placed. We had what we needed to win: a good car, an excellent strategy, and a mechanical problem robbed us of a good result. That’s racing as people say, but it’s very frustrating all the same.”

Olivier Panis (n°11 – Ret) :
“Practice was difficult but we managed to sort things out. It’s positive from that point of view even if the fourth row didn’t really represent our full potential. We concentrated on race set-ups and both cars’ performance showed that it was the right choice. The rostrum’s a good result for the whole team. It shows us the path to follow. But the retirement reminds us of the work we still have to do. You must never let your guard down!”