Vaillante REBELLION wins the 6 Hours of Mexico !
First victory of the FIA WEC season for Vaillante REBELLION. The Oreca 07 #31 wins the 6 Hours of Mexico. The #13 ends up in fifth position after an amazing race
In the first few laps, Bruno Senna took the lead of the LMP2 by overtaking the #36 Signatech Alpine Matmut. A first stint that lasted only fifty minutes. The Brazilian driver handed to Nicolas Prost who, during his two hours of driving, kept the Oreca 07 #31 at the top of the LMP2 category. Julien Canal followed the rythm of his teammates by reinforcing this precious position of leader. Returning for the last hour and a half, Bruno Senna was going to fight with the CEFC Manor TRS Racing # 24 and Signatech Alpine Matmut # 36. Nothing went wrong and the #31 won the race!
After a penalty for excessive speed in the pitlane, car #13 took the start of the 6 Hours of Mexico in last position on the starting grid. It was no less necessary to give more motivation to the trio of drivers who rushed in an incredible rise in rankings. David Heinemeier Hansson was the first to start on the Mexican track with the intention of catching up with his opponents. In the 35th minute, the Danish driver overtook a first LMP2 and then a second ten minutes later, Matthew Rao at the wheel of the CEFC Manor TRS Racing #24. After less than two hours of racing, Mathias Beche took the wheel and realized the best lap time of the car. After three hours, Vaillante #13 was in fifth position. The last driver to sit in the Oreca 07 was Nelson Piquet Jr. who was going to drive the remaining two and a half hours. The #13 car ended the race in fifth position in the LMP2 category.
An incredible race took place at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico City. Next race in two weeks with the 6 Hours of Austin (USA) and the strong aim to continue this momentum.
Nicolas Prost, #31 driver
“Fantastic race, we prepared it well all the weekend and then everything followed the plan. Bruno and Julien have done a fantastic job, it’s really great to win with them. The team also made a no-fault race. Now we must continue this momentum.”
Julien Canal, #31 driver
“We deserve this victory. We all did an amazing job with a great car. That’s our first victory after finishing three time second and it’s a really good sensation we will enjoy it! Thanks to it we can come back to the run of the championship so I am very happy about that and I hope the rest of the season will be the same.”
Bruno Senna, #31 driver
“What an amazing job by the team this weekend! We had the car to win the whole time and everyone maximised their potential to achieve this long awaited win! Can’t wait for COTA!”
David Heinemeier Hansson, #13 driver
“Tough to finish P5 today. While starting from the back didn’t hurt us as much as expected, we just didn’t have the pace to bring the fight. We ran as high as P3, but then gambled on rain, and it didn’t come. Congratulations to the sister car, though!”
Mathias Beche, #13 driver
“First of all congratulations to the #31 crew. The level in WEC is incredibly high and it is a deserved victory! Regarding us, starting from the bottom of the grid we had to fight in the traffic to go back and necessarily lose a precious time on the leaders. We tried everything with an aggressive strategy hoping for the rain but it never happened! I am obviously disappointed with the result because I am a competitor and my desire is to win. However the race was solid and I hope we can take our revenge in Austin, a circuit that I particularly appreciate.”