Autosportfoto

ACO is pleased about the arrival of the Rebellion R-One prototype

In 2014, the Rebellion Racing team will enter a new prototype, which will be designed, built and developed by the ORECA Group, in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The Automobile Club de l'Ouest is very pleased with this announcement, which will enable one of the leading private teams in endurance to extend its involvement in the top category of the sport, while stacking all the odds in its favour so that the Rebellion R-One, the fruit of the work of the well-known ORECA Group, is crowned with success.

The future technical regulations of the LM P1 category, which will come into force in 2014, were unveiled a year ago and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest has been working on them since 2009: they now provide private teams with a unique opportunity to fight at the front!

Thanks to the regulation changes the LM P1 will be lighter and their aerodynamics will undergo a big evolution. The major innovation is the performance of the engine: it will no longer be controlled by an air restrictor, but by a limit on the quantity of energy used per lap and by a limit on the instantaneous fuel flow.

The design study of the Rebellion R-One LM P1, which will be developed from a clean sheet of paper, began several weeks ago. Like the team's current cars power will come from Toyota engines.

Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest: "The history of the ORECA Group is intimately linked to that of the Le Mans 24 Hours. By developing a new LM P1, the French company has moved up another step in its involvement by helping the Rebellion Racing team to extend its entry with even greater ambitions in the category. This Rebellion-ORECA association also proves the soundness of the new endurance regulations created in 2009 by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, which will come into force in 2014."

Hugues de Chaunac, President of the ORECA Group: "The whole ORECA company is delighted about this partnership with Rebellion Racing. The team has proved its competence in LM P1, and is full of ambition. In parallel with our partnership with Toyota Motorsport GmbH in their Le Mans programme, this project to design the new Rebellion is fully in keeping with the development of our activity as a racing car constructor, and we're very motivated by the idea of doing it with a professional outfit. We share this taste for what looks like an exciting challenge."

Bart Hayden, Rebellion Racing Team Manager: "The new 2014 regulations give the privateer LM P1 teams a real opportunity to aim for outright victory. At Rebellion Racing we're very motivated by the perspective of these wins. We want to build on our recent success and reach an even-higher level. We've chosen ORECA to develop and build the Rebellion R-One as they have achieved convincing results, and have already produced several successful prototypes."

Christophe Guibbal, the R-One project manager at ORECA: "Endurance is turning an exciting corner with regulations which change the odds and open up new perspectives. The cards will be reshuffled and it's a unique opportunity for a fresh start. For us engineers it's thrilling: we can explore other horizons. Seizing the opportunity in a new field of regulations is the key to this project, and this is the state of mind in which ORECA is taking up this challenge!"