Photo : Frederic GAUDIN / ACO

 

Two months after their first rollout, the Rebellion R-Ones faced the most demanding endurance race with a primary objective of crossing the finish line on Sunday, June 15th at 3:00 p.m. Making constant progress since the Test Day, the LM P1 cars powered by Toyota demonstrated a certain potential as well as good reliability against Audi, Porsche and Toyota.

Though the No. 13 of Andrea Belicchi, Dominik Kraihamer and Fabio Leimer was forced to retire after 73 laps, the No. 12 of Mathias Beche, Nicolas Prost and Nick Heidfeld finished the race in a convincing fourth place overall. A performance that equaled victory for Bart Hayden's and Hughes de Chaunac's men.

Bart Hayden (Team Manager): "What can be said after such a result? I think we are all a little surprised. It's truly an exceptional result for all the people who have worked on this project, the Rebellion Racing mechanics who put the cars together in the first place, the present team here in general, and the members of Oreca who supported us. We couldn't have dreamed of such a performance, and yet we did it. Our best lap was 3:28:466, not far from the factory cars, and at one time we were the fastest on the track. This shows the car's potential and the level at which we can be successful. It happened today and it was important for us all because it's the biggest race."

Christophe Guibbal (Directeur du Bureau d’Etudes Oreca): "We are happy to see the result that Rebellion Racing achieved today. We started to meet this challenge together a little more than 14 months ago, and to see the R-One finish at Le Mans in fourth place after such a short period of time is truly satisfying. The auto made progress as of its first laps, and all week long, showing interesting potential in the race. To watch it cross the finish line without any major issues at such a difficult race is a really positive point. As wonderful as it is, it is a step that puts everyone in a nice dynamic. We – Rebellion Racing and Oreca Technology – will need to capitalize on this performance. Bravo to Rebellion Racing. We are proud to have contributed to the team's best result at Le Mans, and that while seven official cars were entered!"

Pierre-Yves Riom / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SATURDAY JUNE 14 2014, RACE. The Rebellion R-Ones at the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans.