The Le Mans 24 Hours Test Day was an important date on the REBELLION Racing 2011 agenda. The Swiss team used the occasion to test two heavily revised Lola-Toyota LMP1 cars, each with a new aerodynamic kit, new front suspension, a longer wheelbase and the introduction of the wider front tyres supplied by Michelin.
As the only opportunity to test on the unique Le Mans 24 Hours circuit, the test day was of paramount importance ahead of the race in June. The team’s six drivers, Neel Jani, Nicolas Prost, Jeroen Bleekemolen in the Lola-Toyota #12 and Andrea Belicchi, Jean-Chistophe Boullion, Guy Smith at the wheel of the #13 completed a high number of laps, thus carrying out important development work and gathering valuable data for the engineers in the team, Toyota Motorsport and Lola Cars.After 8 hours of testing on the famous Le Mans 24 Hours circuit, the REBELLION Racing team were satisfied with what they found. All the new developments pleased the drivers and the engineers were reassured about the potential of the car and its line of progression for the forthcoming Le Mans 24 Hours race as well as the remaining rounds of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and the Le Mans Series.Bart Hayden, REBELLION Racing Team Manager: "The improvements on the car are all pointing in the right direction and should help us improve our performance at the 24 Hours race. We already have a good understanding of the new configuration of the Lola-Toyota and where to work for the further development of our cars. We leave Le Mans with a lot of data and information. However, this test day at Le Mans has highlighted a fact that we feared, the current 2011 regulations have not effectively addressed the equivalence between diesel and petrol engines. We could understand a 4-5 second gap which would be in line with the ACO’s intention of an acceptable 2% difference, but 10 seconds is way off the mark. We hope that the ACO will look seriously at this situation in the next few weeks. In our case, as usual, we'll concentrate on our work and the next race at Spa. We will focus on our races and work hard to target the best position overall."
