The official Test Day for Le Mans 24 Hours was a productive one as the Swiss team increased their understanding of their new REBELLION R-One LMP1-L cars on the particular and unique Le Mans layout. The team’s cars, #12 and #13, were dedicated to two specific working programmes focused on setup and fuel efficiency.
The pace of the cars improved through the day as both cars reduced their lap times, the engineers and drivers were pleased with the setup changes. Both cars’ fastest laptimes were achieved during the afternoon session with a 3:31.700 for car #12 and 3:33.042 for car #13.
The endurance range of the Michelin tyres was evaluated and the team have a clearer view regarding tyre compound and construction choices for the race week.
The aerodynamics of the REBELLION R-One at the Le Mans circuit proved to be efficient with the top speed of the cars being very close to the Factory cars. REBELLION R-One #13 was recorded with a top speed of 331.8 km/h and #12 at 326.8 km/h, compared with the 339.1 km/h maximum top speed of the Test Day by the Porsche 919 Hybrid #20 of Mark Webber.
As the afternoon session neared the end, the team was in a positive mood, but a few minutes before the checkered flag, the REBELLION R-One #12 in he hands of Nick Heidfeld crashed into the wall at the entry to the Porsche curves. The German driver was not injured and got out of the car unaided, but the car suffered quite a lot of bodywork damage. Fortunately, the chassis was not damaged and the team started the rebuild of the car as the Test came to an end.
A shakedown of both cars with their race engines and gearboxes had been scheduled for Tuesday 3rd June, and that plan is unchanged.
From Rebellion Racing
