Like every year, the month of February is highly anticipated in the world of endurance racing as it ushers in the announcement of the grid lists for the European and endurance championships. In all, 16 ORECA 07s will be fielded in 2018 throughout the world, as well as two Rebellion R-13 LMP1s and two ACURA ARX-05 DPis.

Every year the fleet grows

For its debut in competition last year, the ORECA 07 clearly dominated, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 class and the FIA World Endurance Championship, with nine to 10 competitors fielded depending upon the round. Four other ORECA prototypes participated in the European Le Mans Series and one in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

For 2018, the ORECA armada has reinforced its ranks. In the European Le Mans Series, ORECA’s presence will expand from four to seven cars. All teams from 2017 have re-enlisted for the new season, like American team DragonSpeed, French team Graff and the Russian outfit G-Drive Racing. They are now joined by two other renowned teams: Duqueine Engineering and Algarve Pro Racing x Rebellion.

In the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the ORECA brigade has also increased in size, from one to four chassis. JDC Miller Motorsports, already present last year, has added a car to its team and is joining forces with Performance Tech Motorsport and CORE autosport, both credited with impressive showings at the opening round of the championship, the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

For the FIA World Endurance Championship, four ORECA 07s and one Alpine A470 will take part in the 2018-2019 Super Season: TDS Racing, DragonSpeed, Jackie Chan DC Racing x Jota Sport and Signatech Alpine Matmut. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, three cars from the European Le Mans Series (Graff and G-Drive Racing) will round out the ORECA delegation.

Big news for 2018 as well is the involvement in the U.S. of two ACURA ARX-05 DPi prototypes, and two Rebellion R-13 LMP1s at the international level. The ORECA family has now increased to 20 chassis across the world!

“In 2018, we are continuing our ascension to the top of the endurance racing world,” explains Hugues de Chaunac, President of the ORECA Group. “Whether in the U.S. or in Europe, our delegation has nearly doubled. And let us not forget the DPi and LMP1 prototypes, one of the big challenges in 2018 for the ORECA Group. We are extremely pleased to welcome new, high-caliber teams such as Duqueine Engineering, whose move to the LMP2 was a given. Between LMP1 and LMP2, we will field 10 cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – not counting the operational support we provide TOYOTA GAZOO Racing. I am very proud to watch the name ORECA gain increasing stature year after year in the world of endurance racing, and I have no doubt 2018 will include new powerful moments.”