Rebellion Racing described the 6 Hours of Shanghai as ‘lukewarm’, with the team picking up a fourth and fifth in the final FIA World Endurance Championship race of 2018.
Despite failing to record a podium for the first time this season, Rebellion still leave the first half of the Super Season second in the teams championship, with the #3 car third in the drivers championship.
Rain lashed down on the Shanghai International Circuit, with a red flag stoppage along with multiple safety cars ruining most of the front-runners strategy. As a result, it was the #1 car which challenged the SMP Racing AER for a podium spot, missing out by sixteen seconds across the line, despite early drama.
Neel Jani, who drove the #1, said it was a; “Tough race in the wet weather and we were basically on survival mode in the beginning, with lot of aquaplaning!
“It was one of the most difficult races I’ve done in WEC, the weather was making it very difficult and just staying on the track was sometimes hard! We’ve had some high points today but we need to work hard during the Christmas period to improve in every area of our package as competition is getting tougher each weekend!”
Teammate Andre Lotterer reminisced about a positive qualifying session in which they lined up third, but 0.059 seconds behind the Toyota Hybrid.
“Shanghai has been a difficult race,” he started. “[It] was tainted with bad weather and safety cars, including one that made us lose a ride. Despite this, we came back very strong on the SMP Racing. We were right behind them but a new safety car and the pace was broken at the end of the race.
“When the flag went green for the last three laps, I did not have the tires in good shape so we could not continue the challenge to get back this third place.”
Bruno Senna reiterated the thoughts of his teammates, with the #1 beating the #3 for the first time this season. He rounded up the teams assessment, saying; “We need to learn lessons from today and put it behind us. Let’s focus on big improvements coming to Sebring!”
