Rebellion Confirms Second LMP1 Entry for Spa, Le Mans

Rebellion Racing has confirmed that it will run a second LMP1 car in the final two rounds of the 2019-20 FIA World Endurance Championship at Spa and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Double Le Mans outright winner Romain Dumas will share the wheel of the No. 3 machine with Louis Deletraz and Nathanael Berthon at both events.

It will mark Dumas’ first time driving for the Rebellion sports car team, although the former Porsche LMP1 ace recently contested the Dakar Rally with the organization.

The Frenchman’s last LMP1 appearance at Le Mans came in 2016, the year of his second victory, while the editions since have seen him race in LMP2 for Signatech Alpine and Duquine Engineering, and in GTE-Pro for the Porsche works team.

FIA Formula 2 racer Deletraz is set for his first outing in the WEC although the 22-year-old has prior sports car experience in the form of a part-season 2016 ADAC GT Masters campaign.

Deletraz recently sampled the R13 Gibson for the first time during the Bahrain end-of-year rookie test.

Berthon, meanwhile, drove the No. 3 Rebellion in the 4 Hours of Silverstone WEC opener last September, which was the last time Rebellion ran two LMP1 cars.

It then scaled back to a single-car effort for the bulk of the season although Rebellion CEO Calim Bouhadra told Sportscar365 that the No. 3 would return for Spa and Le Mans.

Its main lineup of Gustavo Menezes, Bruno Senna and Norman Nato claimed victory in the 4 Hours of Shanghai, marking the first on-the-road win for a WEC LMP1 privateer.

“We are happy to trust Romain Dumas after our journey and success in the Dakar, keep on working together seemed obvious,” said Rebellion president Alexandre Pesci.

“He will be a great help alongside his young teammates, thanks to his experience at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“We also support our young and talented Swiss driver, Louis Deletraz for his very first participation in the famous Le Mans race. We also hope that Nathanael Berthon can fully express his talent in the 88th edition.”

The confirmation of the second car for Le Mans means this year’s race will mark the third time in a row that Rebellion has entered two of its R13 Gibsons in the 24 Hours.

Its bests result with the car to date was a third-place finish for Thomas Laurent, Mathias Beche and Menezes in 2018.