24 Hours of Le Mans

Team ORECA Matmut launches new Courage-Oreca

© Team ORECA Matmut

Team ORECA Matmut officially presented its 2008 contender today in France. Under the eyes of many guests and media the colorful Courage-Oreca LC70 and its drivers for the 2008 Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans were presented by team owner Hugues de Chaunac. And despite the launch date being April Fools’ Day the car and its drivers were certainly no hoax.

De Chaunac confirmed the Le Mans Series pairings of Olivier Panis/Nicolas Lapierre and Stephane Ortelli/Soheil Ayari and also confirmed that these four drivers will be joined by Loïc Duval and Laurent Groppi at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

The car itself is more than just an evolution of the Courage LC70. Not only does the car have a new Judd V10 engine instead of the AER V8 that powered the chassis in 2007, Team ORECA Matmut also pointed out that apart from the monocoque almost everything has been redesigned on the car. A brand new nose section, rear body work and wings have given the car a different look for the 2008 season. And the team is still working on new aerodynamic updates back at the factory.

“A considerable amount work was completed by the technical team in only five months! I am so impatient to be in Barcelona to measure our progress,” said Hugues de Chaunac. At the official Le Mans Series test at Paul Ricard a month ago the cars were already quick with the old bodywork still on the cars.

Dutch painter Piet Mondriaan, or Mondrian from 1912 on, was the inspiration for the new livery.

© DPPI // A new ‘Art Car’ has been born!