Rebellion Scores First Overall WEC Pole

Photo: Joao Filipe/Adrenal Media

Rebellion Racing has claimed its first-ever overall pole in the FIA World Endurance Championship, with a LMP1 non-hybrid lockout in qualifying for the 4 Hours of Shanghai.

Gustavo Menezes and Bruno Senna combined for a two-lap average of 1:45.892 in the No. 1 Rebellion R13 Gibson to edge out the Mike Simpson and Charlie Robertson-qualified No. 6 Team LNT Ginetta G60-LT-P1 AER by 1.2 seconds.

The sister Team LNT Ginetta qualified third in the hands of Ben Hanley and Egor Orudzhev.

It marked the first time a Toyota did not score pole since Bahrain 2017, which was claimed by Porsche in its final LMP1 outing.

The No. 7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid, qualified by Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi, was fourth and 1.343 seconds off the pole-winning Rebellion.

Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima’s No. 8 Toyota, meanwhile, could only muster a 1:48.180 average, more than two seconds slower from the Swiss-entered privateer squad.

Rebellion’s pole was only the second by a non-hybrid LMP1 car in WEC history, dating back to the first race at Sebring in 2012.

Cool Racing Takes LMP2 Pole

Nico Lapierre and Antonin Borga gave Cool Racing its first pole in WEC competition, thanks to a 1:48.649 lap time in the No. 42 Oreca 07 Gibson.

The duo edged out the Goodyear-shod No. 37 Jackie Chan DC Racing entry by 0.126 seconds, with the No. 22 United Autosports Oreca set to start third in class.

The 4 Hours of Shanghai gets underway Sunday at 12 p.m. local time (Saturday, 11 p.m. ET).

RESULTS: Qualifying

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