Rebellion Racing will seize to compete in motorsport at the end of the 2019/20 FIA World Endurance Championship, making the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans their final outing as a racing team.
A review from the marketing team has seen the decision come about. The official team press release states that the awareness campaign for the Rebellion brand has been highly successful throughout their 13 years in motorsport. However the decision to pursue other ventures in the future has made the watch brand take action and withdraw from any further motor racing competitions.
Rebellion Racing has been an associated team with WEC since its return in 2012. Having race in LMP2 and LMP1, the team are one of the only privateer entries to put pressure on the official dedicated manufacturers in the championship. Having claimed their first overall race victory this season and consistently been Toyota Gazoo Racing‘s main rival, they certainly look to be ending their racing career on a high.
“Motorsport has been a great resource for REBELLION. The circuits have been exceptional showcases and an important sounding board for our Brand with a very wide audience.” President of the Rebellion Corporation, Alexandre Pesci, said in the official statement. “The returns on investment of these activities in the motorsports business have been more than satisfactory.
“We are giving ourselves time to redefine the contours of our business, but the effects of this decision will be immediate for the racing department as soon as the WEC season ends. These are not easy decisions to make and we are saddened that we will not be able to meet our past commitments for the years to come.”
The commitment that Pesci was referring to is the Peugeot Le Mans Hypercar project that Rebellion Racing had been attached to. The team were supposed to be working with the French manufacturer to develop a new hypercar that was due to take part in the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans, and likely to be a full season entry in WEC 2021/22. Since the Rebellion announcement, Peugoet have announced they plan to continue developing this project, but will now be working with Ligier.
“We would like to thank our partners for having trusted us and for having taken up so many challenges together with a rebellious spirit.” Rebellion Corporation CEO Calim Boudhadra added. “As a private team, we are proud to have written a page in motorsport.
“I am convinced that the PEUGEOT Brand’s challenge in WEC will be a great success in the future, which I regret not being able to attend. “
