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Bruno Senna believes the new Oreca 01 car will thrill the crowds on its debut at the Spa 1000 kilometres race.

Senna will be partnered by Stéphane Ortelli in the number 10 car, while Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre will drive the number 11.

"We've got a new car that's simply fantastic," Senna said.

"In Barcelona, we realised we had to progress in certain areas. We hope to improve our out-and-out performance with the Oreca."

The Spa race is the second round of the Le Mans Series and is scheduled one month before the Le Mans 24 Hours race.

"It's the last one before Le Mans," Senna said. "Personally, I'm going to continue learning about endurance and rack up the kilometres with the new car. I'm still playing myself in with the team.

"We can finish on the rostrum again. It'll be very interesting to fight against Peugeot, as we'll see exactly how competitive we are."

Lapierre was also looking forward to driving the new car at Spa and admitted that there was pressure on the team to repeat their podium performance of last year.

"I love it. Last year, we finished on the rostrum and that's a great memory," Lapierre said.

"Spa is more typical than Barcelona. Before Le Mans it's a good circuit for a general rehearsal. We're up against Peugeot and that'll be a good benchmark.

"It"s important not to make any mistakes and to have a perfect weekend. The new car's got great potential in terms of sheer speed and a bigger range of setups.

"We've made a big step forward and we must consolidate it with a good performance."

Le Mans Series from Spa: Sunday 11.45 LIVE on British Eurosport (SKY 410 / Virgin Media 521); THE WHOLE RACE available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe

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