Team Oreca Matmut
Team

Team Oreca Matmut

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Team Oreca Matmut, known as ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles), was founded in 1973 by Hugues de Chaunac, a former team manager for the Formula One team AGS. The team has achieved success across multiple disciplines of motorsport, initially focusing on single-seater racing before transitioning to sports cars and GT cars in the early 1990s. Between the 1970s and 1980s, drivers including Alain Prost, Jacques Laffite and Jean Alesi secured a record 11 French Formula Three Championship titles for the team.

In the 1990s, Oreca operated a BMW program in the French Supertouring Championship. The team also won the FIA GT Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GT2 class with a Chrysler Viper GTS-R. In 1991, Oreca achieved overall victory at Le Mans with a Mazda 787B, on their second attempt and after a decade of participation.

During the same period, Oreca prepared Renault Clio S1600 rally cars and won the Andros Trophy ice racing series with Alain Prost driving a Toyota Corolla. In the 2000s, Oreca collaborated with Renault Sport in the development of the Mégane V6 for the Renault Eurocup Mégane Sport, and fielded an Audi R8 at the 2005 24 Hours of Le Mans with support from Audi France. In 2006, Oreca ran a Saleen S7R in the Le Mans Series, with the Oreca Saleen S7R winning the Spa-Francorchamps Le Mans race that year.

Oreca worked with Dodge to produce over 100 customer cars based on the Dodge Viper Competition Coupe, built to GT3 specification between 2006 and 2007. In 2010, Oreca entered a Peugeot 908 HDi FAP with 'Semi-works' assistance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Le Mans Series, securing overall victories at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve and the overall championship title, finishing ahead of the factory Peugeot teams. The team continued with the Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP in 2011, winning the 12 Hours of Sebring)) despite the model’s retirement at the end of the previous season.

In 2012, Oreca was selected to run the Toyota TS030 Hybrid LMP1 car, with support from Toyota Motorsport GmbH, in the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Although the car demonstrated promising speed, it did not finish at Le Mans due to a crash and mechanical issues.

Beyond running existing chassis, Oreca began manufacturing race cars in 2007 with the purchase of Courage Compétition, resulting in the Oreca 01 for the LMP1 class, first raced at the 2009 1000 km of Spa. The team also produced the Formula Le Mans 'FLM09', initially for its own series before adapting it for use in the American Le Mans Series’ LMPC category, aiming to provide an affordable platform for smaller teams. The Oreca 03, launched in 2011, was designed to meet revised LMP2 regulations, featuring a carbon-fibre monocoque and compatible with production-based V8 engines, with the Nissan VK45DE and Judd-BMW 3.6L V8 being popular choices. Between 2011 and 2015, the Oreca 03 and its updated 03R variant achieved over 25 class wins across various endurance series, including victories at São Paulo and Shanghai with G-Drive Racing, and ELMS titles with Thiriet by TDS Racing. Several chassis remain active in historic racing competitions.

The Oreca 05 was unveiled in 2015, winning the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2017, Oreca launched the Oreca 07, becoming one of four LMP2 manufacturers selected for that year. Variations of the 07 were also created for the LMP1 class (Rebellion R13) and the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class (Acura ARX-05), in partnership with Honda Performance Development. The R13 was later rebadged as the Alpine A480 for the Le Mans Hypercar class. Oreca was also selected for the 2028 LMP2 regulations and is currently a chassis supplier for the LMDh regulations, providing chassis for Acura, Alpine, Genesis, and Ford.

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