Mirroring the season opener at Silverstone, Rebellion Racing finished third and fourth at the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps last weekend. The second LM P1 podium in two races this season. An outstanding performance for the top LM P1 Privateer team, although there is still room for improvement according to Nicolas Prost who shares car #12 with Nick Heifeld and Nelson Piquet Jr.

“Things haven’t been perfect yet,” Prost said after a second successive fourth place. “After a tough race at Silverstone where we needed to adjust to new tyres, the car was still a little tricky to drive at Spa. But it will all be just a distant memory in a month’s time.”

The Swiss team will be putting the next four weeks to good use as they hone their preparation for the season’s flagship event. They – and Prost – have high hopes this year.

“The Top 5 is clearly the minimum target,” announced the French driver who is also a leading light in Formula E. “As I don’t expect all the factory LM P1s to finish, we’ll achieve that if we get to the chequered flag. And I think we can set our sights a little higher too! From our point of view, we need to race like in 2012 and 2014 – take care of the fuel and the tyres, and that’s it. If we can get that right, we can make the podium! Reliability is our trump card. We are not infallible, but we need to stay in there because we have no chance in terms of racing speed.”

The current holder of the FIA Endurance Trophy for LM P1 Private Team Drivers is one of the mainstays of the WEC and the 24 Hours, and has an idea of what it takes to succeed at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

“A good Le Mans driver needs to know when to push on and when to back off,” he emphasised. “You need to know how to step up the pace and drive quickly, but it’s a race with no margin for error. Mistakes are punished immediately and often heavily. It’s not easy knowing when to attack and when to step back. Gaps that may seem considerable are less significant at Le Mans than elsewhere. It’s better to lose 10 or 15 seconds than risk an accident because contact here is far more costly. It’s a race you have to approach with a little perspective.”

With his experience and maturity, Prost now has that “perspective” making him an ideal candidate to lead the rebellion. The works teams are warned.

PHOTO: STAVELOT (LIEGE PROVINCE, BELGIUM), CIRCUIT OF SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, FIA WEC 6 HOURS OF SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS. Nicolas Prost (here with teammate Nelson Piquet Jr, right) feels that the Rebellion R One can spring a major surprise at the 24 Hours of Le Mans next month.