Asian Le Mans Series
Lapierre and Duval to race for Oreca in Japan
© lendurance.co.uk – Jake Yorath
After their victory at Silverstone and 5th place inthe Petit Le Mans in front of Acura, the TeamORECA-Matmut-AIM will race in the last 2events of the season on 31st October and 1stNovember. The ORECA 01 will be at Okayamaand will be driven in the Asian Le Mans Seriesby Nicolas Lapierre and Loïc Duval.
Lapierre has been a regular member of the team for 2 years – usually with Olivier Panis -and has scored a couple of pole positions plus victory at Silverstone as well as finishing5th in the Petit Le Mans. Loïc Duval will back him up in the two 500-km events in Japan.Loïc has won the 2009 Formula Nippon Championship title this season scoring 4 victoriesand 3 pole positions in the 8 rounds! He has also shone in the Super GT Championship inwhich he is racing in addition to his single-seater commitments. Like Lapierre in the pasthe has also competed in A1GP, and he knows the Team ORECA-Matmut-AIM squad wellas he drove for it in the 2008 Le Mans 24 Hours in which he finished eighth. At Le Mans,he also received the Jean Rondeau Prize awarded to a rising French star.
“Loïc’s got all the right qualities to back up Nicolas,” explains Hugues de Chaunac. “He’sa talented driver as shown by his results, in particular his recent Formula Nippon title. Hisperformances in Japan are strong arguments inhis favour. On the one hand, he’s a well-knowndriver there, and on the other he knows all theJapanese circuits including Okayama. As it’s theteam’s first outing on the track his experience willbe a big help. Like Nicolas he’s shown his talentin both sprint and endurance events. He drivessingle-seaters on a regular basis and he’salready driven an LM P1 prototype.”
In Japan, the ORECA 01 will in the hands of a couple of drivers who’ve proved just howquick they are. Nicolas and Loïc combine both speed and steadiness so they have all thequalities necessary to tackle the Okayama races – long certainly, but shorter than theusual ones in endurance. The whole Team ORECA-Matmut-AIM squad is determined tofinish the season on a high note in the Land of the Rising Sun !
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It is interesing news on how 09F-Nippon champ will handle latest P1 car.
Oreca’s rival Pescarolo sport announced they will line-up one Japanese driver alongside Tinseau. Not Treluyer?? In this case, Tsugio Matsuda or Satoshi Motoyama at the wheel of works-Pesca may be another interesting casting.
I look foward to see battle among Aston, Pesca and Oreca in Japan. Okayama is relatively technical track (NSX suits for Okayama on S-GT) so will Pesca shine at there?
It’s shocking that Acura isn’t making the trip. They would be the fan favorite and the brand that can draw in japanese fans and top teams.
Pescarolo is sponsored by Playstation (Sony, one of Japan’s largest companies). Maybe it was a call from corporate that they feature a local talent. After all Playstation sponsorship has been good to Henri.
It will be a spectacular race if Acura and Dome come to Asian LMS. I hope this realize next year.
Playstation livery is becoming one of classic in Sports-car racing.
Granturismo/Lemans racing make perfect synergy on each images.
In those meaning, as behalf of JCB, talented pilot hopefully take wheel of Pesca.