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After a conclusive Test Day, eight ORECA chassis will take part in the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours : sevent ORECA 03 and one Alpine A450, built and developed by ORECA. After podium finishes in the previous two editions of the race, the customer teams will be aiming for victory in a particularly competitive LM P2 class : 22 cars and 6 constructors, of which ORECA is the best represented ! The engine department, based in Magny-Cours, will also be on hand with the engineers overseeing no fewer than eight V8 engines.

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ORECA is celebrating its 40th anniversary, in the same year the 24 Hours of Le Mans celebrates its 90th year. It is a special double anniversary for the Team ORECA who, although it has competed in all the disciplines, has fallen in love with the La Sarthe twice around the clock classic. For the special occasion that will be the 2013 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, ORECA will show its passion for the event with a logo invoking the Group's 40 years of competition with the message: « Le Mans Addict ».

It all begins this weekend in the heart of Le Mans

Fifty six cars and 168 drivers will pass through the infamous administrative and technical checks over two days (Sunday/Monday), held on the Place de la République in the centre of Le Mans.  It is a golden opportunity for the thousands of spectators, fans and enthusiasts present to get close to the cars, meet the drivers and see the new models and racers due to take the start of the 81st edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a week's time.

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Jota Sport completed a successful Test Day at the Circuit de la Sarthe on Sunday (June 9) as the British squad's preparations for the 90th anniversary Le Mans 24 Hours on June 22/23 continued.

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Test day at Le Mans: the first step taken : 10 laps completed by each of the  BOUTSEN GINION drivers, at the wheel of the LMP2 number 40 !

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Signatech-Alpine entered two Alpine A450s for the pre-Le Mans 24 Hours Test Day in order to prepare for the 90th anniversary edition of the famous French race (June 22-23, 2013). 

Conditions were damp for the first six hours' running before both Alpine A450s were able to switch to Michelin slick tyres for the remaining two hours.

In the hands of Nelson Panciatici, the N°36 Alpine A450 posted the second-fastest lap of the day in the LMP2 class (3m39.642s), at an average speed of 223.4kph. Paul-Loup Chatin put the N°37 Alpine A450 in third position (3m40.907s).

AF Corse's Matt Griffin is very proud of being Irish, but that hasn't stopped him from fully immersing himself in the land of pasta, tiny, strong, espresso coffees…and Ferraris.

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VISIT FLORIDA is to compete at the famed Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar endurance race this year in conjunction with the HVM Status GP team.

A regular sponsor in US sportscar events including with Mazda's Grand-Am SKY-ACTIV diesel programme, VISIT FLORIDA is to be the primary sponsor of the HVM Status GP's Lola-Judd B12/80 Coupe at Le Mans, which takes place in the La Sarthe region of France on June 22-23.

For a driver with as prestigious and successful a CV as Andrea Bertolini, it would be easy to think that he had many years of Le Mans experience under his belt.  However, this month's 90th anniversary of the world's greatest sportscar race will only be the Italian's second participation.  He will be driving the No.66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia in the super-competitive LMGTE Pro category, the only entry in the class to use Dunlop rubber.

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Signatech-Alpine to run two Alpine A450s at the pre-Le Mans Test Day on Sunday, June 9.

The car's first chance to lap the full Le Mans track will be followed by a busy fortnight for Alpine.

Tristan Gommendy, Nelson Panciatici, Pierre Ragues and reserve driver Paul-Loup Chatin will take turns in the N°36 and N°37 Alpine A450s.

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TONGEREN (BEL) – For the fourth consecutive year ProSpeed Competition willbe competing at the 24H of Le Mans, the mythical endurance race. The Belgianteam will enter a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the LM GTE-AM category, a categoryreserved for Grand Touring cars whose team is comprised out of maximum oneprofessional driver. Renowned to be one of the world's most prestigiousmotorsport competitions, the 24H of Le Mans is celebrating its 90th anniversary.ProSpeed Competition will be joining the party with their Porsche #75 forFrançois Perrodo (FRA), Sébastien Crubilé (FRA) and Emmanuel Collard (FRA).

Of the 168 drivers who will take part in the 90th anniversary 24 Hours of Le Mans, the third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, many lead busy racing lives and compete in several series.  Not many, however, have the opportunity to jump from an LMP1 to LMP2 to a GT car, but Rebellion Racing's Mathias Beche is one such driver.

Alongside his FIA WEC duties for Rebellion, Beche is also competing in the European Le Mans Series with Thiriet by TDS Racing, the 2012 Champions, as well as in the FFSA French GT Tour (also with Thiriet). 

In four short years, David Heinemeier Hansson has made quite a name for himself in the world of sportscar racing.  The Dane, who dreamt of competing at Le Mans since watching his countryman Tom Kristensen win there in 1997, will this year be making his second visit as a competitor to La Sarthe. 

As part of OAK Racing's talented FIA World Endurance Championship driver line up, the Chicago, USA resident will be sharing the cockpit of the No.24 Morgan-Nissan with Olivier Pla and Alex Brundle and the trio has LMP2 class victory firmly in their sights for the 90th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 22nd/23rd June.

Exactly 50 years ago Alpine made its debut amongst endurance racing's ‘greats' with its first participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  Between 1963 and 1955, the French constructor entered no less than 55 Alpines in the Le Mans event and, on top of numerous class victories, recorded a historic win in 1978 with Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and Didier Pironi at the wheel of an Alpine A442B prototype.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is a race every endurance driver dreams of taking part in and the European Le Mans Series offers a ‘free pass' to the event to the winners of each class in the series.  Thus, the LMP2 champion will take his place in LMP2 for Le Mans, the two first winners of LMGTE will be offered entries in LMGTE Pro, and the new GTC category would be able to run in the LMGTE Am class. Concerning the LMPC Category, the new 2013 ELMS regulation offers an LMP2 ticket to Le Mans 24 Hours 2014 for the winner of the class in 2013.

- Alpine A450 drivers Nelson Panciatici and Pierre Ragues completed the 3 Hours of Imola (round two of the 2013 European Le Mans Series) in second place.

- Thanks to their first podium finish of the season, Signatech-Alpine and its drivers are currently second in the championship's provisional standings.

- Signatech-Alpine's focus will now switch to its preparations for the 90th anniversary Le Mans 24 Hours on June 22-23. The Alpine A450 will be shared at the French race by Nelson Panciatici, Pierre Ragues and Tristan Gommendy, with Paul-Loup Chatin as the team's reserve driver.

- Full results from the race  HERE

- Drivers and Teams Classification after Round 2 Imola HERE

Reigning ELMS Champions Thiriet by TDS Racing returned to the top step of the podium when Pierre Thiriet crossed the line in the team's Oreca-Nissan to take maximum points in Italy for himself, the team and co-driver Mathias Beche.  The gap of 46 seconds to the second placed nr36 Signatech Alpine Alpine-Nissan of Nelson Panciatici didn't reflect the hard fought victory which saw a race long challenge from  round 1 winners Simon Dolan and Oliver Turvey in the nr38 Jota Sport Zytek Nissan that ended in disappointment for the British team when Dolan was unsighted by a backmarker, which caused a collision spinning him into the gravel. 

The 3 Hours of Imola has provided non stop action for the first half of the race and rain has been reported on parts of the track to add another element into who will prove to be victorious at the end of the second round of 2013 European Le Mans Series. 

The lead of the race is being held by the nr1 Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca Nissan of Pierre Thiriet but is closely followed by the nr38 Jota Sport Zytek Nissan of Simon Dolan, which had started on pole position. 

The LMPC leader is the nr49 Team Endurance Challenge FLM Oreca of Paul Loup Chatin which has led from the start of the race.

The GTC Category has been growing since first round at Silverstone. Four additional cars will be running at Imola, increasing the GTC grid to seven cars for the second round of the 2013 European Le Mans Series, the 3 Hours of Imola.

Championship leaders Jota Sport scored their second pole position in two races when Oliver Turvey lapped the 4.9km Imola circuit in 1m34.343 in the team's Zytek-Nissan, nearly half a second ahead of 2012 Champions Thiriet by TDS Racing.  Jota will now start the 3 Hours of Imola this afternoon at the head of the 28 car field.

The first qualifying session of the weekend for the LMGTE and GTC competitors taking part in the 3 Hours of Imola produced a pole position for the two famous Italian manufacturers Ferrari and Lamborghini at their home circuit. 

Today is the second round of the 2013 European Le Mans Series from Imola and the sun is shining on the Italian circuit as the teams prepare for qualifying and the race.

The opening day of the 3 Hours of Imola weekend ended under sunny skies with the nr36 Signatech Alpine finish with the fastest lap of the day around the 4.9km Imola circuit.  Nelson Panciatici posted a 1m36.214 time, 0.6 seconds quicker than the nearest rival, the nr18 Murphy Prototypes Oreca-Nissan of Brendon Hartley and Mark Patterson.    Panciatici's lap was over three seconds faster than the best LMP2 time set during the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) 6 hour race held in July 2011.

All British team EcurieEcosse won at home in Round 1 at Silverstone last month and will start in Imola at the head of the GTC Category which boasts a seven car grid for round 2 in Italy.

2012 ELMS Champions Thiriet by TDS Racing were fastest during the opening session of the 3 Hours of Imola weekend in Italy with Mathias Beche setting a 1m42.026 lap at the end of the 60-minute Free Practice session. 

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Some four weeks ago the MOMO-Megatron DF1 Team finished the first race in the ELMS (European Le Mans Series), held on the English Silverstone circuit, in a successful third place in the GTC class.

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- The second round of the 2013 European Le Mans Series will take teams to Imola, some 40 kilometres from Bologna, Italy, on May 17-18.

Team Release

HVM Status GP has signed Canada's Tony Burgess and Switzerland's Jonathan Hirschi to compete in the European Le Mans Series race at Imola and the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Set up is in progress, the teams are settling in, and the paddocks are taking shape at Imola.

Team Release

The second round of the European Le Mans Series takes place this coming weekend at the Italian circuit at Imola near Bologna, home of the former San Marino F1 Grand Prix. Planning to feature strongly among the nine Ferrari 458 Italias due to race at the 3 Hours of Imola are Ram Racing's two gleaming white entries.

The second round of the European Le Mans Series will take place at the Imola circuit this week end and, amongst the 68 drivers entered for this event, ten of them will be able to call it a home event. In addition, the only Italian team present – AF Corse – will compete in two categories: LMGTE and GTC.

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After victory at Silverstone in the LM PC class for Soheil Ayari and Anthony Pons,Team Endurance Challenge heads to Enzo and Dino Ferrari d'Imola Circuit. Forthe second round of the European Le Mans Series, three ORECA-FLM 09 will beon track : the No. 47 in the hands of Andorran driver Alex Loan and FrenchmanMatthieu Lecuyer, the No. 48 driven by Soheil Ayari and Anthony Pons, as wellas the No. 49 shared by Paul-Loup Chatain and Gary Hirsch. It's another step forTeam Endurance Challenge allowing five of its six drivers to discover thediscipline with a future participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans as the primarytarget. The team's mentor, Nicolas Minassian, will also be present.

Competitors from the European Le Mans Series will be racing at the Autodromo Enzo & Dino Ferrari at Imola in Italy, on 17th and 18th May, for the second round of the season.

The opening round of the 2013 European Le Mans Series saw 23 cars racing on the Silverstone circuit in England on 13th April.  However, 28 cars across the four categories will be providing a wonderful spectacle for the ‘tifosi' on 17 and 18 May when they take to the Autodromo Enzo & Dino Ferrari circuit.  The track is situated in the small town of Imola, 40 kilometres east of Bologna.

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Coming from the United States, the LMPC driver, Matt Downs joins our team to participate to the famous Le Mans 24 Hours race

Last week-end the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship was held in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. Jota Sport, ELMS series' leader following the opening round in Silverstone last month, finished third in the LMP2 category at the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Simon Dolan and Oliver Turvey are now ready to do the same again at Imola, for the second round of the 2013 European Le Mans Series.

Soheil Ayari and Anthony Pons avoided trouble in an action packed race to take their first victory of the season. The 3 Hours of Silverstone, first round of the 2013 European Le Mans Series, was run under particularly difficult weather conditions.In fact, race direction showed the red flag to stop the race with 40 minutes to thefinish.

(Team Release)

The all British Jota Sport Zytek Nissan of Simon Dolan and Oliver Turvey won a shortened 3 Hours of Silverstone as the great British weather played an important role in deciding the opening round of the 2013 European Le Mans Series.  The weather conditions, which worsened as the race progressed, forced a long safety car period and then the red flags came out to end the race after 75% distance. 

Former GP2 star Oliver Turvey got his sportscar career off to a flying start by claiming pole position on his home track at Silverstone in the nr38 Jota Sport Zytek Nissan with a time of 1:48.032, eight tenths of a second ahead of his nearest rival Brendon Hartley in the nr18 Murphy Prototypes Oreca-Nissan.

Communiqué complet - Silverstone - un circuit sur lequel il faisait très beau ce matin. Les essais qualificatifs d'ELMS se sont déroulés sur piste sèche, ce qui a permis à tous les protagonistes de la course, de procéder à quelques réglages supplémentaires avant la course qui prendra son envol à 15h00.

Great sunny weather at the Silverstone race track today.

This morning it was on a wet and cold track that the European Le Mans Series competitors began their first free practice session of the day. But the sun made an appearance and it was in warmer conditions, although still on a wet track, that the second session was held this afternoon.

Key players in endurance racing, team principals, drivers, media and organisers came together this evening at Silverstone Circuit for a relaxed and informal gathering to celebrate the start of the 2013 endurance racing season.

British Ferrari team looks forward to Silverstone.

After 15 months of planning and preparation, there are now just three days remaining until Ram Racing takes to the track for its official European racing debut – the opening round of the 2013 European Le Mans Series.  Apprehension is mixed with anticipation and an overwhelming eagerness to get things started!  

While all the teams entered for the 2013 European Le Mans Series settle themselves in Silverstone's paddocks, the excitement mounts at the approach of the season's first race and drivers and team managers are delighted to be back on track. This is definitely the case for Xavier Combet, team manager of the French Thiriet by TDS Racing team, whose car will sport proudly the # 1 as 2012 LMP2 champion.

After testing sessions, here comes racing time ! Morand Racingwill make its racing debut in Silverstone next weekend in thehighly competitive European le Mans Series championship. Onmythic Northamptonshire race track, Natacha Gachnang and FranckMailleux will do everything possible to shine in LMP2 category !5 kms 901 long Silverstone racetrack consisting of 18corners will welcome competitors of the European leMans Series championship for the 9th time after racesin 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 et 2011.

More than fifteen nationalities are represented by teams and drivers on the entry list for the 2013 European Le Mans Series season. It was therefore important to organise high-level television coverage and to see the races broadcast in numerous countries.  The organisers are delighted to report that the potential number of households taking the highlights exceeds 600 million, with another potential 600+ million watching coverage through motorsport shows.  The number of countries in which the ELMS will be visible in 2013 is likely to be more than 100.

The weather at Le Castellet for day two of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) test was cloudy but dry.  With two sessions being run today there was plenty of opportunity to fine tune the cars ahead of the opening round at Silverstone is just two weeks' time.

A warm and sunny day in the South of France greeted the teams and drivers taking part in the opening day of the official European Le Mans Series test.  After three sessions at the Paul Ricard Circuit the Morand Racing Morgan-Judd of Natacha Gachnang, Franck Mailleux and Kajim Ajlani set the fastest lap of the day with a time of 1:48.153 around the 5.791km track.

The Signatech-Alpine junior driver and the promising Swiss will drive the third ORECA-FLM 09entered by Team Endurance Challenge.The two men join Alex Loan/Matthieu Lecuyer and Soheil Ayari/Anthony Pons.

The ELMS teams get ready to travel to the south of France Paul Ricard circuit, for the coming official test session to be run on March 26 and 27th. Latest news…

The provisional entry list for the first race of the 2013 European Le Mans Series has been released and no less than thirty cars, divided into four categories, will take the start of the 3 Hours of Silverstone on 13th April.

3 drivers who know the team : two French and one English.

Bastien Brière, LMP2 driver in ELMS and Le Mans 24 Hours in 2012, Thomas Dagoneau and John Hartshorne, LMPC drivers with whom we won the title last year.

The entry list for the official European Le Mans Series test at Paul Ricard (26/27 March) has been released with fifteen of the twenty-nine full season entries taking part in the two-day event on the full 5.7km Le Castellet track.

Looking to continue its endurance program in LM P2, Sébastien Loeb Racing requested an entry for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the European Le Mans Series at the beginning of the year. Although selected by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, the Alsacian team has made the decision to decline the invitation due to a sponsor's withdrawal at an advanced stage of discussions.

Famous Scottish squad confirms European Le Mans Series campaign

Over 60 years since the team was formed and following a successful full-time return to top-level sportscar racing in 2012, legendary Scottish outfit Ecurie Ecosse will continue its revival in 2013 running twin programmes in the GTC class of the European Le Mans Series and the GT3 category of the British GT Championship.

The French Alpine marque announced on Friday 8th March its return to endurance through the LMP2 category. Alpine has chosen to prepare itself for the greatest endurance race in the world with the Signatech team of Philippe Sinault and Didier Calmels, which is entered for a full seasonwith the European Le Mans Series and already registered on the list of entries for the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The 2013 European Le Mans Series:  more entertainment, more races and more teams.  The list of 29 entries for the European Le Mans Series has been unveiled but, before talking more about the teams, drivers or the series itself, it's important to bring to the fore some new areas which will change the look of endurance racing in Europe.  

The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and Le Mans Endurance Management (LMEM) are pleased to announce that Michelin has been selected as the official tyre supplier for the LMPC and GTC classes in the 2013 European Le Mans Series.

The grid for the 2013 European Le Mans Series has been announced with twenty-nine cars across the four classes taking part in the five round series. The twenty-two teams represent nine different countries - France, Great Britain, Belgium, Ireland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Italy, Netherlands and the United States. 

Tickets are now available to buy online for the first round of the 2013 European Le Mans Series at Silverstone on Saturday 13 April.  Tickets for the 6 Hours of Silverstone, which is the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, can be bought from the Silverstone websites at www.silverstone.co.uk. The family friendly prices start at just £10 for access on Friday 12 April, with children under 15 receiving free tickets.

In 2013, the Group ORECA will be blowing out 40 candles. Forty years of existence dedicated to the passion of motor sport and leisure. Forty years of thrills for its four departments : Racing, Technology, Store and Events. It has been a unique path with a competition record composed of more than 350 wins and 40 national and international titles. 2013 is most certainly a very special year for ORECA ! 

There will be a new name in international GT racing for 2013: RAM Racing.  But, while the name is new, there will be plenty of familiar and proven names associated with the start-up team which aims to showcase itself and the best that the GT world has to offer on its way to championship success.

Last weekend, the teams entered in the European Le Mans Series put on a top-notch performance in the 80th Le Mans 24 Hours.

The Thiriet by TDS Racing team, winner of the Le Castellet 6 Hours and current leader in the ELMS championship, qualified in fourth place in the LM P2 category at Le Mans. In the race, Beche-Thiriet-Tinseau were in second place at the end of the first hour and Beche led for a few laps.