14th March 2012

Oak Racing has entered two top-level driver crews for the World Endurance Championship. But Baguette-Kraihamer-Moreau in the LM P1 and Lahaye-Nicolet-Pla in the P2 have very different objectives.

Oak Racing, now managed by former driver, Sébastien Philippe, who has been promoted following the departure of François Sicard to Dams, has stacked all the odds in its favour at the start of the 2012 season by selecting top-class driver line-ups. 26-year-old Belgian Bertrand Baguette (2009 Formula Renault 3.5 Champion and hero of the 2011 Indy 500, which he led with only a few laps to go to the flag) will be at the wheel of the no. 15 Oak Pescarolo-Judd. He will team up with the experienced Guillaume Moreau, starting his fourth season with Jacques Nicolet’s squad, and Austrian hope Dominik Kraihamer whose talent exploded last season at the wheel of the LM P2 Orecas.

No. 15’s aim will be podium finishes in the overall classification, while the no. 24 Morgan in LM P2, in the hands of Nicolet himself, Matthieu Lahaye and Olivier Pla will be gunning for the title.

After testing at Sebring, Le Mans and Monza, the team backed by Gulf and Dunlop looks better prepared than ever before, and has every right to hope to continue the momentum generated by its good finish to the 2011 season. This is what Sébastien Philippe thinks: “We couldn’t have hoped for better for the two driver line-ups. In LM P1, Guillaume Moreau represents continuity and his experience will be a great help to Bertrand and Dominik. Taking the fight to the diesels will not be easy, but we can spring a few surprises, in particular thanks to major aero and engine updates. It’s the same story in LM P2 where the car will have the new 2012 aero kit which tested very well in the wind tunnel, and it’s also got a good driver line-up. Olivier and Matthieu are both very quick and experienced, and Jacques is our best option in the Silver category. He’s reliable, consistent and fast enough to battle with the other drivers in his category. We can aim for victory.”

Text: François Hurel – Photo: DPPI