Rebellion R-One Unveiled, Turns First Laps

Photo: Rebellion Racing

Rebellion Racing has taken the wraps off its new LMP1 challenger, the Rebellion R-One, which completed an initial shakedown at Paul Ricard on Wednesday.

Mathias Beche was tasked with putting the ORECA designed and built car through its initial paces, in what came less than a year after the initial CAD designs of the car were created.

“After many months of dedicated focus and design effort, the past few weeks have seen an incredible input by the ORECA personnel and members of the Rebellion Racing team,” said team manager Bart Hayden. 

“Our mechanics have been in the ORECA factory for the past few weeks without a break and so today’s running of the car is a great reward for all the hard work. 

“Congratulations are due to everyone that has been involved in this project, but particularly to the design team led by Christophe Guibbal and the Rebellion mechanics led by Garry Richardson.”

With delays in production, the Anglo-Swiss squad has been forced to start the FIA World Endurance Championship season with its 2013-spec Lola B12/60 Toyotas, which have been grandfathered into the new-look LMP1 class.

The team will return to Paul Ricard next week for the R-One’s first complete test, in preparation for a planned debut in the second round of the season at Spa. 

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John