78th 24 HEURES DU MANS
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The REBELLION Racing team is heading to France for the 78th edition of the worldfamous 24 Heures du Mans.
With two LMP1 Lola coupé - Rebellions entered for the race, REBELLION Racing willface new challenges in la Sarthe. The team will compete at Le Mans with two LMP1cars for their first time under the REBELLION Racing name. Last year, under theSpeedy Racing Team Sebah banner the Swiss team entered one Lola Coupé - AstonMartin in LMP1 and a Lola Coupé – Judd in LMP2. Both cars took the chequeredflag with the #33 car finishing 2nd in LMP2. The Team’s first appearance at la Sarthewas in 2005 (as Sebah Racing).
REBELLION Racing’s aim for the forthcoming 24 Heures du Mans is no less than tobe the first placed petrol car to be strongly placed amongst the diesel cars.REBELLION Racing will face extremely competitive opposition with 9 factory dieselPeugeots and Audis and 7 petrol cars including a pair of factory Aston Martins.The diesel cars are still some way ahead of the petrol cars, so it will be tough to raceagainst them. Diesel-powered cars have dominated the LMP1 category over for thepast four years. A number of regulation changes have been introduced to try to bringthe performance of the petrol cars closer to their diesel equivalents but REBELLIONRacing, like other teams running petrol LMP1s, will still have a mountain to climb.Diesel race engine technology is relatively new compared to petrol, so bigger steps inperformance can be achieved, making it easier to compensate for the changesimposed by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest.
REBELLION Racing’s pair of Lolas will be driven by 6 drivers mixing speed,experience and professionalism.
In car #12, the young and talented duo of the team’s Le Mans Series regulars NeelJani from Switzerland and Frenchman Nicolas Prost – son of former Formula OneWorld Champion Alain Prost – is boosted by another legendary name from the worldof motorsport, American Marco Andretti, grand-son of Former 1978 Formula OneWorld Champion Mario and son of US legend Michael Andretti.
Marco commented : “ when I was contacted by the Swiss Rebellion Racing team Ithought, ‘why not?’ I love those long stints even at night, therefore I immediatelyaccepted the invitation. I met both Nicolas and Neel while I was competing in theA1GP Series two years ago and we became good friends. I am very excited to raceat this famous track where my family has been very successful in the past.”
Marco (Michael) Andretti was born March 13, 1987 in Nazareth, Pennsylvania in theUSA. He won the 2004 Barber Formula Dodge National and Southern class. In 2005he raced in the Star Mazda series and also competed in six races in the Indy ProSeries, winning three of them. Marco moved to Indy Racing League in 2006, earningthe Rookie of the Year performance at Indianapolis 500 and finishing second in therace. From that time, Marco's career has been focused on Indy Racing Leaguefinishing 7th in the series in 2006 and 2008 and scoring another Indy 500 podium in2008. Marco repeated the same performance last week with another third place atthe 2010 Indy 500.
In car #13, the team’s experienced and talented regular Le Mans Series drivers,Italian Andrea Belicchi and Frenchman Jean-Christophe Boullion, are joined by GuySmith from Great Britain, winner of the 2003 edition of the 24 Heures du Mans withBentley.
Guy joined his car #13 teammates at the 8 Hours of Le Castellet, the opening roundof the 2010 Le Mans Series, where the team achieved a podium finish.Andrea Belicchi and Jean-Christophe Boullion are curently third in the LMS driversclassification after the 1000 km of Spa.
Team Manager, Bart Hayden said how much REBELLION Racing were lookingforward to the event, “we head to Le Mans with great optimism, in spite of thechallenge posed by the diesel powered cars in our category. The Le Mans Seriesraces earlier this year have helped us in our preparations for the 24 hour race and wecan’t wait to get out there and pit our cars against the might of the factory teams. Wehave really strong driver line-ups and our technical partners at Lola, EngineDevelopments and Michelin have all worked hard to help us develop the cars. Wewill aim to deliver our optimum performance and with a little good fortune, we hope tofigure strongly in the final classifications of the race.”
The two Lola - Rebellion LMP1 cars will take to the legendary 13.4-kilometre LeMans track for the first time on Wednesday afternoon, between 4pm and 8pm, forpractice. The first qualifying session takes place between 10pm to midnight onWednesday evening.
ScheduleMonday , 7 June14:20 – 14:50:Scrutineering car #1214:30 – 15:00:Scrutineering car #13Wednesday, 9 June16:00 – 20:00: Free Practice session22:00 – 24:00: Qualifying session 1Thursday, 10 June19:00 – 21:00: Qualifying session 222:00 – 24:00: Qualifying session 3Friday, 11 June18:00 – 19:00: Drivers’ parade, Le Mans city centreSaturday, 12 June09:00 – 09:45: Warm-up15:00: Start, 78th Le Mans 24 HoursSunday, 13 June15:00: Finish, 78th Le Mans 24 Hours
