Dallara-Oreca Judd LMP900 - Shake down before heading to Le Mans

We are glad to announce that 20 years after its fabulous 4th place finish at Le Mans, our Dallara - Oreca SP1 will return to Le Mans this week for two 45 minutes races.

Chassis DO- 002 has not been raced since its victory at 2017 Daytona Classic and it will be a great emotion to drive it along the mythical 13km track.

Peter Auto and Endurance Racing Legends managed two 45 minutes qualifyings on Thursday, then one 45 min race on Friday morning and another on Saturday morning. This such a great opportunity.

In 2000 after winning everything possible with the Viper GTS-R, Oreca and Chrysler would aim to an overall win at Le Mans with an ambitious LMP900 car, the project was called "Défi Le Mans" 

After a "run in" year in 2000 at Le Mans with a Reynatd the proper LMP900 designed jointly by Dallara and Oreca was ready, fitted with a purpose built V8 6.0 Liter Mopar using a flat plane crank. Three chassis were entered at 2001 Le Mans and the subject car number 16, was driven by three former F1 drivers : Karl Wendlinger, Olivier Beretta and Pedro Lamy.

Chassis DO-002 qualified 6th in the middle of the AUDIs and Bentleys, despite heavy rainy conditions and cold temperatures managed an impressive 4th overall finish which was fabulous for a brand new car.

From various conversations with Wendlinger and Beretta the car handled  superbly, its was also the fastest LMP900 on track at night on the rain. Unfortunately a broken water pump deprived it from a promised 3rd place on the podium. 

This was a great joy from all the team and for Chrysler being basically the only car and team able to be a serious contender to Audi.

Unfortunately Chrysler now under Daimler' control withdrawn the "Defi Le Mans" in the summer of  2001 and its commitment with Oreca, leaving the famous French team empty handed after a so promising first edition.

However on its own money Oreca decided to pursue its efforts at Le Mans and privately entered the Dallaras at Le Mans in 2002 with Judd V10 engine.

However our chassis was used as a test car for the Judd engine and as spare for Le Mans 2002, it never raced again. Being the best placed of all Dallara-Oreca cars entered in 2001 & 2002 Hugues de Chaunac decided to keep it for his Oreca museum but after a couple of years agreed to sell it.

After not being used since its maiden victory at 2017 Daytona Classic, DO-002, just undergone a comprehensive race preparation for the Endurance Racing Legend support race at Le Mans.

The shake down last Wednesday went pretty well, we iwarmly nvite you to see the short video and raise the volume up to listen to its thrilling Judd V10 engine, the GV4 is actually an endurance version of the Yamaha-Judd Formula one V10.

Hope to see you at Le Mans !