How LMP2 was won – Vaillante Rebellion down to the wire

2017 marked the beginning of a brave new era for LMP2, but the teams at the front needed no introduction, as Vaillante Rebellion snatched the FIA World Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers from long-time points leaders Jackie Chan DC Racing. 

With all full-season entrants campaigning Gibson-engined ORECA 07s, driver performance, team strategy and car setup would make all the difference and it was the Anglo-Swiss Rebellion squad that ultimately found the best balance across the three in its first season in the LMP2 category.  

Consistency was the key for Vaillante Rebellion’s Bruno Senna and Julien Canal – joined at all rounds by Nicolas Prost except the Nürburgring, where he was replaced by Senna’s former RGR Sport team-mate Filipe Albuquerque. The No.31 car of Senna and Canal finished every race on the podium except Le Mans and won four of the remaining five races to overhaul the JOTA Sport-run Jackie Chan DC Racing No.38 of Oliver Jarvis, Ho-Pin Tung and impressive rookie Thomas Laurent, which won three of the first four races. 

Facing a 46-point deficit after the No.38’s victory at the Nürburgring, Rebellion might have been forgiven for thinking the title was already beyond them. But Senna and Prost stuck to their task and, together with 2015 LMP2 champion Canal, found another gear to win in Mexico by out-foxing the No.24 CEFC Manor TRS Racing ORECA of Jean-Eric Vergne, Ben Hanley and Matt Rao. 

Although it didn’t seem it at the time, this would prove to be the season’s turning point, as clutch issues for the No.38 Jackie Chan DC Racing car demoted Jarvis, Tung and Laurent to ninth.

After beating their rivals to the final podium position at COTA, Rebellion showed its Mexico triumph was no flash in the pan with another victory in the weather-affected race at Fuji. The final red flag proved fortuitous, with the COTA-winning Signatech Alpine A470 of Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrão and Gustavo Menezes closing in, but Senna and Prost led the most laps and would likely have still edged the DC Racing crew, which took third, had the weather allowed the race to run its full course.

The No.31 Vaillante Rebellion took the points lead for the first time on Jackie Chan DC Racing’s home turf in Shanghai, after contact with Nico Müller in the No.26 G-Drive left Tung to struggle to the end on two heavily flat-spotted tyres. Powerless to defend the lead from Senna, the frustrated Tung slipped to fourth in the closing stages behind the No.36 Signatech and the No.13 Rebellion, resulting in a 14-point swing in favour of Senna and Canal. 

With four points separating the two teams heading into Bahrain, the stage was set for a winner-takes-all finale, but a fuel pickup issue that forced the No.38 to make an extra stop in the final hour allowed the No.31 Vaillante Rebellion through for victory and the title, the first of Senna’s professional career.

Aside from defending champions Signatech Alpine Matmut at COTA, the only other team to win a race in LMP2 was the TDS Racing-run G-Drive car of Alex Lynn, Pierre Thiriet and Roman Rusinov at Spa, although a DNF at Le Mans and a five-minute penalty at the Nürburgring thwarted their title aspirations.