Organized by the competition department of Oreca, two testing days were scheduled on February 23rd and 24th at Paul Ricard HTTT circuit. For Mathias Beche, Pierre Thiriet and the whole Team, the main target of this roll out was to discover the 2012 evolutions brought by the French manufacturer on the Oreca 03 as well as the adaptation to the Dunlop tyres that will equipe the ” LM ” P2 n°46.
With only two weeks remaining before the Official European Le Mans Series test days, Mathias was eager to take to the track after a long winter break to discover the new package. Under a blue sky with spring temperatures, the Swiss driver and his teammate Pierre Thiriet worked in close collaboration to prepare their best for this exciting 2012 season. The Oreca 03 – Nissan n°46′s drivers achieved two good working days, were able to collect a great amount ot technical data regarding the behavior their new racing package.
Mathias Beche (Oreca 03-Nissan n°46 | Team Thiriet by TDS Racing) : « The 2012 season is eventually launched ! After the cancellation of the tests due to the snow, the working conditions were now perfect. The behavior of the Dunlop tyres is different from what we knew with the Michelins. It is important to learn how they react, to adapt our set-up and to reveal the subtleties in order to get the best from them. Oreca made a fantastic job to adapt 03 to the 2012 regulations. The cars balance is good and quite promising. Pierre keeps improving his performance and knowledge and our exchanges were particularly constructive. Pierre is raising his performance everytime he drives and we are both pushing to raise our own levels of performance. We were able to store a good amount of information which will now be analyzed in order to choose the best working line. On the engine side, our partnership with Nissan allows us to have a really strong package. This year the level in “LM” P2 is going to be incredible, there are some very strong teams and well known drivers, it is a big chance to be able to compete in a high level championship. It’s going to be very homogeneous and I believe that we are going to experience some 6 hours sprint races! I’m really looking forward to the official tests in ten days. »
Mathias Beche is now focusing on the first big appointment of the season, the official test days of the European Le Mans Series. For this occasion, the Oreca :03-Nissan of Team Thiriet by TDS Racing will show its new livery. For this occasion, all the actors of the championship will be on track for what’s going to be a fascinating and competitive 2012 season.
Source : Mathias Beche