The six drivers present at the final round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) season at Bahrain have been retained, putting an end to the rumours which circulated throughout 2015 that Nick Heidfeld was leaving. The German driver, formerly in F1, will join Nicolas Prost and Mathias Beche, while the second R-One will be entrusted to Dominik Kraihamer, Alexandre Imperatori and Mathéo Tuscher, the latter the sole not to have raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year with the outfit sponsored by the watch company Rebellion.

The 2015 edition of the 24 Hours was difficult for the R-Ones, designed by Oreca the previous year, since reliability was evidently not on the menu. The lack of roll-time, following the late decision to use an AER engine, was felt, and the REBELLION Racing team was forced to give up at the first round of the season at Silverstone.

The Swiss team's two cars managed to cross the finish line, which allowed them to gain the maximum points toward the LM P1 private teams endurance trophy since the cars before them in the standing were entered under the banner of a constructor. Since double points are awarded at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the result went towards a fourth title in a row.

Bart Hayden, REBELLION Racing team manager: "We have submitted entries for two cars for the full FIA WEC and 24 Hours of Le Mans. We will continue to use the AER P60 engine; last season it was a new installation in the Rebellion R-One chassis and whilst we achieved our target of taking the titles, there was still a lot of room for improvement on the reliability of the package. Together with AER we have been working hard on addressing the issues that came up in 2015 and we will make the necessary steps forward. We have a testing programme scheduled already and, unlike last year where we missed the opening rounds of the season, this year we will be ready from the beginning and we will be at the WEC Prologue at Paul Ricard HTTT in March."

Unlike last year, REBELLION Racing will start the WEC season at the kickoff at Silverstone on April 17th if accepted to compete in the championship after having rolled at the Prologue, official tests at Le Castellet.

Cécile Bonardel / ACO (quotation from team press release) - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, WEDNESDAY JUNE 10 2015, FREE PRACTICE. Identical cars and drivers for Rebellion Racing in 2016.