Team Oreca, the team that dominated GTS class racing in the late nineties and the 2000 season, have decided to replace the Chryler engines in their prototype engines with the very proven Judd motors.

Oreca was the factory Viper team, and they took that relationship with them as they developed a prototype assault on the Le Mans 24 Hours. Now for 2002, Oreca will replace those Chrysler motors with Judds.

The agreement, between Engine Developments Ltd that produces the Judd engines in Rugby, England, and the Oreca Group based at Signes in Southern France, will lead to an endurance development program that will include the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Long distance and 24-hour tests will be completed in order to validate the engine's specifications for the Le Mans 24-Hour race and as part of the meticulous preparation program for this event.

"We expect the Judd engine to deliver the performance and reliability levels that we feel necessary if we want to challenge for the podium at Le Mans, therefore improving on the 4th place obtained last year," said Oreca's Hugues de Chaunac when announcing the partnership agreement with Judd.

"Fourth is also the best Le Mans result obtained so far by one of our engines" commented John Judd. "This was achieved with the Oreca team when we worked together with Mazda in 1992. We are therefore delighted at this new opportunity to re-join our forces and determination to improve our best result at Le Mans."