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A few hours after the announcement of the retention of Nicolas Prost (read here), Rebellion Racing announced their 2013 programme that has two ambitions : to remain the top private LM P1 team in the FIA World Endurance Championship and to win over the Atlantic in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS).

After the victory of Neel Jani, Nicolas Prost and Andrea Belicchi at Petit Le Mans 2012, the traditional closing round of the ALMS raced on the Road Atlanta circuit, the Anglo-Swiss team have decided to run a car for the full season, and a second for the opening round at the 12 Hours of Sebring (16th of March 16). The duel early in the race at Road Atlanta with the HPD Honda of Muscle Milk Pickett Racing promises a very close fight for this final season of LM P1 prototypes, that from 2014 will not be participate in the unified ALMS / Grand Am series.

In the FIA World Endurance Championship, Rebellion Racing will race to retain private teams trophy in LM P1 that they won in 2012. They will start the season with two cars in the first two rounds at Silverstone (14th April) and Spa-Francorchamps (4th May), and filed a request for a second Lola-Toyota in the 90th anniversary edition of the 24 hours of Le Mans (22nd-23rd June). One car will race the five remaining rounds.

After confirming three of its drivers for 2012 (Andrea Belicchi, Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost) and recruiting the young Swiss driver Mathias Beche, Rebellion Racing has renewed its confidence in Nick Heidfeld and Cong Fu Cheng, already seen with the team in 2012. The first finished fourth in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Jani and Prost, and the second in the same position at the 6 Hours of Shanghai, with Belicchi and Primat. On the technical side, the team retains the Lola coupe and continues its partnership with Toyota and its 3.4-litre petrol V8. The team attack a third season with a history of success, begun in 2011 with the the Le Mans Series team title.

Bart Hayden (Team Principal Rebellion Racing) : "In the ALMS, we definitely want to add some more overall victories to our resume. In the FIA World Endurance Championship, having won the FIA LMP1 Endurance Trophy for best privateer in 2012, it would be nice to win it twice in a row, and in June we hope to have another strong showing at Le Mans. We are fortunate to benefit from a talented and experienced pool of drivers again this year, I’m convinced that they will all do a great job and work well together. Our first race this year will be one of the toughest races that we will face all year, but after a long and busy winter, all of us can't wait to be in Sebring racing again, particularly as we will be up against some extremely strong rivals. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our departing drivers Harold Primat and Jeroen Bleekemolen for their good work over the past year and wish them the best of luck going forward.”

Find more on Rebellion Racing on their official website, Facebook and Twitter.
The 90th anniversary  24 Hours of Le Mans will be the 22nd and 23rd June : ticket information here.

Jean-Philippe Doret
(quote from Rebellion Racing press release)

Photo : BRASELTON (GEORGIA, USA), ROAD ATLANTA, PETIT LE MANS, FINISH, 20th of OCTOBER 2012. After the victory of Neel Jani (pictured here), Nicolas Prost and Andrea Belicchi at Petit Le Mans, Rebellion start the 2013 season with another classic of American endurance racing, the Sebring 12 Hours.