Of the 168 drivers who will take part in the 90th anniversary 24 Hours of Le Mans, the third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, many lead busy racing lives and compete in several series.
Not many, however, have the opportunity to jump from an LMP1 to LMP2 to a GT car, but Rebellion Racing’s Mathias Beche is one such driver.
Alongside his FIA WEC duties for Rebellion, Beche is also competing in the European Le Mans Series with Thiriet by TDS Racing, the 2012 Champions, as well as in the FFSA French GT Tour (also with Thiriet).
The Swiss-born driver will be sharing duties at Le Mans with Andrea Belicchi and Congfu Cheng at the wheel of the No.13 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota in the LMP1 category. A reserve driver with the Swiss team in 2011, Beche made his debut at the endurance classic last year with his ELMS team and finished 8th overall and second in LMP2 alongside Pierre Thiriet and Christophe Tinseau.
Mathias, who will celebrate his 27th birthday the week after Le Mans, recognises that he is fortunate to drive so many different race cars, but it’s not without its challenges: “I have to say that I really had to work hard adapting myself to three different cars – Rebellion Racing in LMP1, jumping back into the Thiriet by TDS Racing LMP2 car, which is very different, and also the BMW Z4 GT3 car. But, in all l three I performed well and had good speed which was nice.
“At Rebellion we are working very hard for Le Mans as we really want to target an overall podium. It might seem strange to say that when you look at the other competitors in our class like Audi and Toyota, who are very strong, but I think if we have good reliability we will be in with a chance. The 24 Hours is such a long race and so much can happen…we will see.”
An FIA WEC LMP2 class winner at the 6 Hours of Shanghai, Mathias has been watching Rebellion’s successes in the ALMS with interest. “They are doing a great job in America and the team is working very well together – we are getting lots of race practice. Over there we can target for overall wins but in the WEC we hope to be first LMP1 privateer. As I said, for Le Mans we would like a podium if possible, and obviously in the ELMS with Thiriet by TDS we want to win the Championship again!”
Fiona Miller
Photo: SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT (TOWCESTER,NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, UK), 6 HOURS OF SILVERSTONE, RACE, SUNDAY 14TH APRIL 2013. The LMP1 Privateer podium included Mathias Beche (second left).
