Senna to test LeMans car

UPDATE Bruno Senna enjoyed a full day of testing at Paul Ricard with Le Mans Series team 'Oreca Matmut'. At the track in the South of France Senna turned his laps in the No. 10 machine without any major problems. "Coming here I've discovered a totally different world, and I feel I'm a better driver for it," Senna said. "This test has been very enriching. The team asked me to help with the set-up and I managed tire work and fuel consumption. I did my first-ever night stint! It's all very different to what I've known before, and I really appreciated this experience. I liked it and I'd love to do it again! While my aim is still to do Formula 1, I said to myself that long-distance racing could be something really great."

03/08/09 Bruno Senna will gain new experience today at the Paul Ricard Circuit when he accepts an invitation to drive a Le Mans prototype car for the first time. Hugues de Chaunac has extended the invitation for Bruno to test for Team Oreca Matmut as they continue their preparations for the Le Mans 24 Hour race on 13-14 June.

"I would like to thank Oreca and Mr. de Chaunac for this opportunity. It will certainly give me an insight into an area of my profession I have not seen before. While I do not want to be distracted from my target of driving in F1, there are a number of opportunities that will certainly improve my performance when that time comes. This is one of them and I am looking forward to the challenge", said Bruno Senna.

Bruno will share driving duties in one of the Courage-Oreca LC70s with former F1 race winner Olivier Panis, Le Mans 24 Hour winner Stephane Ortelli as well as Oreca endurance regulars Nicolas Lapierre and Soheil Ayari. With a great deal of experience of testing GP2 on the shorter Paul Ricard circuit layout, Bruno will tackle the full length 5.8kms circuit during the official Le Mans Series test for the first time.

With tops speeds of over 200mph, a large technical program to get through and a big team working into the night, this is the kind of experience Bruno hopes will help ease his progress into F1 when the opportunity arises.

"I understand that the goal for Bruno is clearly F1 but with so few opportunities for young guys to test in F1 now, we felt it would be a good alternative to gain mileage in an LMP1 car. At the moment this invitation is just for Bruno to join our test which will continue into the night. It should be a new experience for him and probably the longest test day he will ever do", reminded Hugues de Chaunac.

Bruno believes the experience will prove useful. "I have proven my racing ability with my results in GP2 but when I get my chance to race in Formula One I want to be able to contribute as much as possible technically. With the restrictions in F1 testing now, it is difficult for young drivers to develop in this way but by using my time constructively like this, I believe I can make myself stand out from the crowd", completed.