The Performance Tech Motorsports team will move into the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype class with an Oreca 07 Gibson next year, following its dominant season in the last year of Prototype Challenge en route to the title with James French and Pato O’Ward (with Kyle Masson for the long races).
Team principal Brent O’Neill courted Oreca from the summer and worked towards putting together a deal, and now will add another of the capable LMP2 chassis to the Prototype class grid.
“We know everybody going into this. Everyone is expecting to see Dallara or Ligier but we look forward to continuing the relationship we’ve built over the years it was the right choice for us,” O’Neill said. “It’s a big step for everybody but it’s a less steep curve to continue with ORECA because we’ve been working with them all along. ORECA was a part of our success this year.
“They did great through this process. We’ve had fun getting people excited about the new car. This, the car announcement, played out well for both of us. Everyone was asking ORECA who the car was for and our team was excited. But we’re happy to announce with them and excited to get to work.”
Oreca’s David Floury, its technical director, added: “We are really glad to partner Performance Tech in moving up to LMP2. The team is strong and has shown it in LMPC and we have developed a very good relationship through the year. ORECA will for sure support as much as possible to help Performance Tech continue to achieve success.
“I think they chose the right car for two main reasons. Firstly, the ORECA 07 is known for quality and has proven its speed and reliability. But besides this, it is a good base for teams that are entering the category for the first year to achieve great results. JDC in the USA or Graff in Europe has really demonstrated this in 2017. The second point is that Performance Tech and ORECA have developed a strong and successful relationship through years. This will enable to gain valuable time and speed up the process.”
Drivers weren’t named but with O’Ward keen on an open-wheel return full-time after doing two Indy Lights weekends last year, then testing in October, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see French and Masson in this car full-time.