The Team ORECA-Matmut will have the back-up of an exceptional candidate at the Le Mans Series official tests – Bruno Senna! The 25-year-old Brazilian had a great season in GP2 in 2008 crowned with the runner-up spot. Over the past few weeks, it looked like he was going to drive in Formula 1, but on Sunday he will back up Olivier Panis, Nicolas Lapierre and Soheil Ayari in the tests on the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit.
Senna has accepted Hugues de Chaunac’s invitation to come and have his first outing in a prototype, and he will drive one of the two Courage-Orecas.
“It’s a great pleasure and also an honour to give Bruno a drive in what is a new branch of motor sport for him,” says de Chaunac. “It really is a last minute surprise! Everything was agreed at the eleventh hour. I was in London only a few hours ago, and I’m delighted that Bruno has accepted to come and join us for this test. Everybody knows just how good he is. Last year he was a potential GP2 Series Championship winner. It’s a great opportunity for the Team ORECA-Matmut to have another very talented driver in its ranks. It’s a very important test in view of the Le Mans 24 Hours even if no final decision’s been taken. In parallel to his main aim: namely to race in F1, Bruno’s going to discover what it’s like to drive a prototype, and we couldn’t be happier about this.”
Bruno Senna in a few words
Bruno began his career in karts in Brazil after which he set off for Great Britain in 2004. His first single-seater drive was in Formula BMW. In his first outing in Formula Renault he made a big impression with a second place in the Macao Grand Prix. The following year he raced in the very competitive British F3 Championship in which he finished third in his second year. The man from Sao Paolo decided to move up a step in 2007 and made an impressive GP2 Series debut. It took him only three races to score his first victory. Last year, he finished in the runner-up spot in GP2 with the iSport International team with 2 wins including Monaco! The 25 year old will have his first taste of a prototype this Sunday for the Team ORECA-Matmut!
Source : ORECA