2022 Oreca 07 #38 Pilots: R. González, A. F da Costa, W. Steven Team: Jota Sport Race: 5th overall (first in LMP2 class) at Le Mans in 2022 Spark - S8633 (resin)
Published 03/23/23
Founded in 1973, ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) was first a French racing team and now a race car constructor. ORECA came to be after Hugues de Chaunac left his position as team manager of the F1 team AGS. de Chaunac is still at the helm of the company, and the manufacturer is nowadays synonymous to endurance racing. The brand’s latest model is the ORECA 07. First introduced in 2017, the 07 replaced the ORECA 05. Though the 05 was a commercial success, FIA and ACO issued new LMP2 regulations for 2017. ORECA developed the 07 to comply with these new rules, and it debuted at the 2017 24 Hours of Daytona. The chassis of the 07 is a carbon fiber monocoque, with double wishbone suspension front and rear. Though teams could use different engines, most teams use the Gibson GK-428, a 4.2 liter naturally aspirated V8.
Since 2017, ORECA built around 104 chassis, though some teams updated their old 05 models to 07 specs. Costing relatively cheap (~US$ 506,000,00), the 07 is a constant in WEC and IMSA races. British team Jota Sport was one of the first to buy an ORECA 07 in 2017, partnering with Jackie Chan DC Racing. At La Sarthe that year, their #38 car came in second overall and first place in LMP2. Jota continued racing in partnership with Jackie Chan until 2020. However, in 2021 they came to Le Mans with two cars under their own colors. The following year they were back, again with two cars – cars #28 and #38. While car #28 (chassis #07-LMP2-74) finished in seventh overall, 07 #38 (chassis #07-LMP2-50) came in fifth. The trio formed by Roberto Gonzalez, Antonio Felix Da Costa and Will Stevens managed first place in the LMP2 class.
If you’re keeping count, you will notice that this is my sixth ORECA 07 🙄. And that’s not counting the two Alpine A470… I’m not exactly an ORECA fan boy, however I can’t help it if the 07 is always winning at Le Mans. Car #38 here is my fifth class winner. Oh, and of course, two of those six 07 are art cars. Consequently, the 07 will be a popular car amongst Le Mans collectors. In scale, 07 #38 is just as nice as my other 07 – Spark absolutely nails these cars. So even if it may be more of the same, it’s a very nice model. And by the way, I’m also trying to get the #31 2021 class winner. So possibly (hopefully) I’ll have seven 07s one day 😋.