Scrutineering Conversations – Part 18
ORECA

Hugues de Chaunac

“We are here and we are ready!

“After Spa of course it took us time to rebuild the (#10) car, but we had a very good test last week at Magny Cours with all six drivers, day and night running – it was a good practice for both the team and the drivers.

“There has been some more evolution in the car since Spa, too, but mainly our work has been on reliability because, sadly, overall performance for us means nothing because of the diesel advantage.  There will be no fight between petrol and diesel cars; they are effectively two different classes.

“It is a sad reality that we cannot race to win; our only target is to get two cars to the finish. To do that we have to make no mistakes either on the track or in the pits 

“All of that makes me frustrated and unhappy – it is important to racing people to be allowed to compete and the regulations prevent us from doing that.

“Without big changes in the regulations we will certainly be one of the teams that will not return.

“On a more positive side we will be looking to pace ourselves to the finish – I am far more interested in making headlines on Monday morning than on Sunday morning.”

Stephane Ortelli

“There’s some magic involved in being back here. I’m 100% fit now of course and really cannot wait to be back on track here, a real dream for me.

“A top five finish is a possibility for us, but there are a lot of diesels with strong and experienced teams.

“Oreca though is a superb team too, and we know how to finish and finish well here.

“Of course I would love to win once again. I was delighted last year to see Allan (McNish), my old friend, win for a second time; he deserved it very much. 

“When I was recovering in hospital from the Monza accident, Allan was there every day.  I will never forget that.”

GG