Rebellion Racing have confirmed that Guy Smith and Jeroen Bleekemolen will join the team as third drivers for the Le Mans 24 Hours, pending the ACO's acceptance of the Swiss team's entry.
Smith was part of the team's 2010 team, joining the team for Le Mans last year, as well as the eight hour race at Paul Ricard that formed the first round the Le Mans Series where the team scored a podium place. The Briton will again be joining regular drivers Jean-Christophe Boullion and Andrea Belicchi in the no.13 car.
“I am thrilled at the prospect of returning to Le Mans with Rebellion Racing, it’s one of the most ambitious teams I have had the pleasure to work with and I think the addition of the Toyota engine to the Lola coupe proves that they are constantly striving to improve their package,” says Smith who will also join the team for the Le Mans Series test days on March 11-12.
“All the guys in the team made me feel very welcome when I joined them last year and it was a very easy integration with them and also it was a real pleasure working with my co-drivers Andrea and Jean-Christophe. We have unfinished business at Le Mans and I think this year we could really be a thorn in the side of the factory teams. It’s always a challenge at Le Mans, but one I am really looking forward to.”
Bleekemolen will join Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani in the sister no.12 car. The Dutchman represented his nation in A1GP – as did Prost and Jani for France and Switzerland respectively – as well as winning the 2009 Porsche Supercup and the LMP2 class at Le Mans in 2008.
The threesome are also due to represent Rebellion at the 12 Hours of Sebring in the first round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC). “Sebring is one of the legendary races in the history of motorsport,” Prost explains. “Racing there will obviously be very special. But most important is that we want to compete for the win, it is a tight and twisty circuit which should be well suited to our car and we should be able to challenge the diesels there. We do not yet know whether the new equivalences have levelled the gap between the diesel and petrol engined cars, Sebring will give us an initial view of that.”
