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LMP2 ORECA to make testing debut next week

French constructor ORECA's new LMP2 coupe is due to test for the first time next week

ORECA will hit its target of running the new closed-top 05 at the start of the March when the car takes to the track at Paul Ricard at the beginning of the week.

No driver has been confirmed for the test of the Nissan-powered car, which will subsequently be delivered to Chinese entrant KCMG for its attack on the World Endurance Championship.

KCMG is one of two customers that have announced plans to run the 05 coupe in 2015 along with the French TDS Racing squad, which will contest the European Le Mans Series assault and the Le Mans 24 Hours.

A further two cars have been sold to unspecified customers who have yet to reveal their plans.

ORECA has strived to future proof its latest design ahead of the planned introduction of new LMP2 regulations for 2017: it has been built around a monocoque produced to the same safety specifications as the latest breed of LMP1 car; and is 1900mm rather than 2000mm in width in line with P1 machinery.

David Floury, ORECA's technical director, said that these decisions had been "made for the future" to give the car "an operational plan spread over many seasons".

The FIA and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest at Le Mans have committed to grandfather existing machinery for a minimum of one season, but ORECA wants its customers to be able to update their cars to give them a longer lifespan up to the 2020 campaign.

ORECA has optimised the weight distribution of the new coupe in comparison with the 03, made the car less pitch sensitive and addressed what it describes as "weak points" of the open car: the 05 has an electric power-steering system rather than a hydraulic one and the starter has been modified.

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