REBELLION RACING IS CONFIDENT AFTER LE MANS 24 HOURS TEST DAY

The Le Mans 24 Hours Test Day was an important date on the REBELLION Racing 2013 calendar. On Saturday, the Swiss team confirmed their involvement in the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship as a constructor and that a new car, the REBELLION R-One, is under development in partnership with ORECA. Today was the only opportunity to test on the unique Le Mans 24 Hours circuit, the test day was of paramount importance ahead of the race in two weeks.
The wet weather in Le Mans during the day did not allow the cars and drivers to express their full potential, but the team is satisfied with the work completed during the day.
The team’s six drivers, Neel Jani, Nicolas Prost, Nick Heidfeld in the Lola-Toyota #12 and Andrea Belicchi, Mathias Beche, Cong Fu Cheng in the #13 sister car completed a total of 142 laps (1,935 km) evaluating the lastest Le Mans specification aero package and gathering valuable data for the team’s engineers.

Bart Hayden – REBELLION Racing Team Manager:
“We managed to get a good number of laps on both cars today. With the wet weather we’ve found a good wet set up and at the end of the afternoon session it was dry enough to validate some of the other parts on the car. We had no big problems and all the drivers had plenty of time in the cars, so it was a successful day.”

Neel Jani – Lola -Toyota #12 :
“We had a lot of rain on the track today. It’s not the best way to prepare the car for the race. But if we have this kind of weather during the race, it could become interesting for us…”

Nicolas Prost – Lola -Toyota #12 :
“We did not complete all our work programme today but we focused on the most important part with the new Le mans aero kit. We still have a lot of work to do to be fully ready for the race. “

Nick Heidfeld – Lola -Toyota #12 :
« This rainy test day hasn’t helped us to learn as much as we wanted on the car. We will take advantage of the practice sessions in Le Mans next week to improve the car on this specific track.”

Andrea Belicchi – Lola -Toyota #13 :
“The first feeling with the car is good. With the rain, we couldn’t had an entire view of it but we are confident with the ability of the team to set it up well for the race.”

Mathias Beche – Lola – Toyota #13 :
“I’m happy to be back again in Le Mans. Of course, we haven’t finished our program of preparation but we have a good feeling in the car here in Le Mans. So we are confident for the race to come.”

Cong Fu Cheng – Lola – Toyota #13 :
“Today was a good opportunity for me to drive again on the Le Mans track as the last time I drove there was in 2008 with an LMP2 car. Because of the wet weather, track conditions were not optimal but I am pleased with what I achieved today. The free practice sessions in the week before the race will be useful to improve the set-up of the car.”