Racing Team Nederland Completes First Test with Oreca

Racing Team Nederland has conducted its first test with the Oreca 07 Gibson that it will switch to for next season’s FIA World Endurance Championship.

The Dutch squad, which ran a Dallara P217 Gibson in the recently-concluded 2018-19 season, is now receiving support from 2012 European Le Mans Series champion TDS Racing.

Nyck de Vries, Giedo van der Garde and team owner Frits van Eerd each sampled the Oreca as part of a two-day test on Tuesday and Wednesday, accruing around 1000 miles (just over 1500 km) in total.

TDS team principal Xavier Combet was on-site, along with members of Dunlop staff.

It’s not yet known which tire manufacturer the Oreca will run on, with Racing Team Nederland currently the only team on the eight-car LMP2 entry list that has not selected a tire supplier for the 2019-20 season.

Dunlop is being replaced by Goodyear for the upcoming campaign, while TDS operated on Dunlop rubber in the ‘Super Season’ and continues to use the brand in the European Le Mans Series through G-Drive Racing.

“The first two days with TDS and the Oreca have been very positive,” said Racing Team Nederland manager Mark Koense.

“The ambiance within the TDS team is pleasant and professional, and the first experience with the Oreca has been positive for all three drivers.

“They all managed to do a large number of laps without any issues. So, these have been two very encouraging and important days as a prelude to the official WEC Prologue test in Barcelona at the end of his month.”

Racing Team Nederland will reveal the livery for its Oreca ahead of the Prologue on July 23-24.

At last month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, which marked the swansong for the Dutch Dallara, the team ran with a special livery paying homage to the Minardi Formula 1 team.