Brazilian continues his development program with a view in Formula 1

Bruno Senna’s motor racing season will officially start this Friday when he get into the Courage-Oreca LC70 prototype for the Catalonian 1000 Km free practice. The Brazilian driver will line up for Oreca team along with veteran Stephane Ortelli in the opening round of the Le Mans Series. The 205-lap race is scheduled to Sunday.

Bruno arrived today in Barcelona. He tested twice on March for the French squad in Paul Ricard in order to get used to the car and its 650 BHP AIM engine. The car, of course, has little to do with the Dallara-Mecachrome he drove in his campaign for second spot in the GP2 Series last year. "The 6-speed sequential gearbox is the same, but in the other hand the bigger wheels are quite different”, he said.

"I still need more mileage in this car”, reckons Bruno. "It reacts completely different from the GP2. It is very difficult to avoid a spin if you lose the rear end, no matter how slow you are. Besides that, it is hard to handle it on traffic when you catch the turbulence of the car ahead”, commented Bruno.

The entry list features 52 cars and four categories – LMP1, LMP2, LMGT1 and LMGT2. The overall winner is expected to be one of the LMP1 favorites. Despite his confidence, Bruno agrees that the Audi R10 TDI will be the major force. "I think we will be competitive. The turbodiesel engines, however, should be strong as any other”, he added. Lola Aston Martin and Pescarolo-Judd are also makes expected to fight for the victory.

Bruno has already confirmed presence in Spa-Francorchamps 1000 Km next month. Both the Catalonian and Belgium races are a preparation for Bruno’s début in the classic Le Mans 24 Hours on June. By joining high-speed and sophisticated series like Le Mans, Bruno intends to continue the development