After hinting that their championship position post the 24 Hours of Le Mans would determine whether Rebellion Racing would complete the 2019/20 FIA World Endurance Championship, it has been confirmed that the Swiss team will not appear at the season finale to be held in Bahrain.
A strong second-place finish for the team at Le Mans and the double points handed out at the 24-hour event gave them a good points haul going into the final race, but the team still sit 30 points behind the now leading #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing. With only 39 points available to be scored at the 8 Hours of Bahrain, including the pole position point, the Rebellion crew would need a lot to go in their favour to be able to close the points gap and claim overall victory. Even with the success ballast Toyota should be handed, it is a big ask for the team which is why they have decided to sit the final round out.
This does mean that the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans was the final outing for the Rebellion Racing team, who will hang up their helmets at the end of 2020. The team next year will be run by Alpine, who are progressing up from LMP2 where they have been very successful with the Signatech Alpine team.
This also means that going into the final race there will only be two LMP1 cars on the grid. The change of circumstances will lead the FIA to discuss whether or not to put on the success ballast that has been holding the Toyota’s back all season. If the FIA decide to continue this regulation, the #7 car will have a 0.47s advantage over the #8 per lap.
