Rebellion increases its Championship lead
After chalking up the maximum amount of points at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Rebellion Racing hit the jackpot again at the 6 Hours of Silverstone, fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, thanks to fourth place overall. Although absent from the podium, the Swiss team finished first amongst the privateer teams in the LMP1 class and reinforced its position at the head of the standings.
On account of contact with the Krohn Racing Ferrari, which earned them a penalty and the need for an additional pit stop for new tyres, the No.12 Lola-Toyota of Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost were only able to bring the car home in 6th place. The No.13, however, of Andrea Belicchi and Harold Primat held onto its fourth place, despite a gallant last stand in the latter stages of the race by Danny Watts in the Strakka Racing HPD-Honda.
Bart Hayden, Team Manager: “The whole team should be proud of the job they’ve done this weekend. We are now closer than ever to our main objective of the season, the FIA WEC LMP1 Team Trophy. I am proud of the guys and the drivers. Once again our partners at Toyota Motorsport and Michelin have helped us to achieve this great result. Now we have a lot of work to do to rebuild and prepare the cars for the four overseas races to come.”
Neel Jani, No.12 Lola-Toyota: “I made a good start and put in a strong triple stint. At the mid race, with Nico, we were fourth overall, one minute ahead of the petrol cars. The penalty and the unscheduled stops ended our race because we lost more than 2 minutes doing this. And, as all the cars were driving more or less at the same speed, it was impossible to catch back up. It's a pity but we have taken the points available. We are now fourth in the drivers’ classification and are still aiming for third. Plus we are leading Privateer Teams’ standings.”
Andrea Belicchi, No.13 Lola-Toyota: “All the team has done a fantastic job. I gave my best to stay ahead and it was hard. We had no problems during all the race and we finished less than seven tenths in front of the Strakka HPD-Honda after a very big fight. After my victory last year here in the Le Mans Series, this 6 Hours of Silverstone was again successful for me!”
Fiona Miller (quotes from team press release)
Photo: TOWCESTER (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, GREAT BRITAIN), SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT, 6 HOURS OF SILVERSTONE, SUNDAY 26 AUGUST 2012, RACE.