Swiss team Rebellion Racing benefited from the retirement of their rivals to continue their stranglehold on FIA World Endurance Championship LMP1 Privateer Wins in 2016. A third win in four races for the #13 squad closes the gap to their team mates.
The #13 car, driven by Alexandre Imperatori, Austrian Dominik Kraihamer and Matheo Tuscher failed to show the pace it had achieved pre-Le Mans. The team found themselves off the back of the LMP1 manufacturers and was largely under threat from the #4 ByKolles Racing team.
A retirement for the ByKolles car at the mid-point of the race gifted the win to Rebellion. Tuscher was forced to pit after a brake caliper seal failure, but it was changed quickly and the car soon returned to track. With further issues for the #12, Tuscher’s crew eventually finished under a lap in front of the LMP2 winners.
Imperatori himself commented on the race, saying; “It’s good to win again, especially here at Nurburgring. At the start of the race I was surprised by the start of the #4 CLM but I decided to wait and take no risk.
“We jumped them during the first pit stop. Dominik and Mathéo did great during their stints and the team was really good again when they had to change a rear caliper.
“When I came back in the car I wanted to push and fight for the win but unluckily car 12 faced problems. After this it was just about bringing the car home.”
The Rebellion Racing team manager Bart Hayden also noted the excellent work put in by the mechanics.
“We are pleased with the LMP1 Privateer win for car #13. It was almost a clean run for car #13, but when intervention was needed, the mechanics did a great job to effect the repair in the minimum of time.
“Car #12 had a couple of unscheduled stops which put it out of contention, but it finished the race and took the points for second placed privateer. Today’s race results put us in a good position for the championship and for the coming races.”
