Silverstone: Rebellion inherits first victory
TOYOTA DISQUALIFIED The third round of the World Endurance Championship ended with a late surprise. The superior Toyota were subsequently disqualified. As a result, the one-two victory - official since Tuesday - goes to the Swiss-flagged Rebellion Racing team. Sébastien Buemi's run of success seemed to continue in England. Two months after the longed-for triumph at Le Mans [...]
Sébastien Buemi's run of success seemed to continue in England. Two months after the long-awaited triumph at Le Mans, the Vaud native also won the 6-hour race at Silverstone together with Fernando Alonso, who is retiring from Formula 1 at the end of the year, and Kazuki Nakajima.
After several lead changes between the two Toyota TS050 Hybrids, the Le Mans winners finished 20 seconds ahead of their team-mates. Buemi, Alonso and Nakajima would have extended their lead in the championship standings with their third success in the third race of the 2018/19 multi-year super season.
Subfloor panels too flexible
But they had done the math without the resourceful technical commissioners. They found the plate mounted in the underbody of both cars to be too flexible. The consequence was disqualification.
In a statement, Toyota Gazoo Racing clarifies that the design and construction of the affected parts have remained unchanged since the 2017 season and have never been the subject of a complaint. It is possible that driving over the raised kerbs on the Silverstone Circuit since 2017 has led to damage in the front area and therefore also to the underbody.
Initially, Toyota announced that it would appeal, but refrained from doing so two days later. So the new classification is official and the first victory for a non-hybrid sports car since Spa 2012 is a fact.
Geneva's Mathias Beche inherits the first overall WEC victory with Rebellion
Mathias Beche from Geneva, US-American Gustavo Menezes and Frenchman Thomas Laurent, who finished third with their Rebellion R-13 four laps behind, were declared retrospective winners. They had already finished third overall on the podium in Le Mans on June 17.
Their teammates Neel Jani and André Lotterer moved up from fourth to second place. The double victory inherited by the Rebellion Racing team from England, financed by Lausanne industrialist Alexandre Pesci, is a fantastic result. And at the same time the happy ending to a weekend that began badly.
Bruno Senna has a serious accident in training
Bruno Senna had such a serious accident in free practice with starting number 1 that he broke his ankle and hip. The third serious accident involving an LMP1 private team with an injured driver - this raises questions about the safety standards of these sports cars, which compete in the same class as the Toyota works cars but are apparently far less robust.
The car, which had been repaired by Saturday, worked perfectly again in the race. Jani and Lotterer were safely in third position ahead of their team-mates from lap 25 to 183, before their Rebellion R-13 had to make a short repair stop at the behest of the race organizers shortly before the end due to a non-defective rear light. They did not complain about the same defect on the other car...
Starting number 1 brings Neel Jani no luck
Profiteer Neel Jani is therefore only half happy about the subsequent correction of the result.
Neel Jani: "For me and André, it doesn't really matter whether we're fourth or second. It's a shame that we lose the subsequent victory because of a trifle. Obviously, starting number 1 doesn't bring us any luck, because we already lost three victories at Porsche in 2017 due to the stable order."
As a reminder: the last time the 2016 world champion stood on the top step of the podium at Le Mans was that year. He and Lotterer will probably not have another opportunity like the one they missed last weekend in the near future.
