Oreca 07s #31 and #13 crossed the finish line in second and fourth positions after 6 hours of fierce race on the German circuit.
New podium for the #31 and his crew remodeled with the exceptional appearing of Filipe Albuquerque, come to replace Nicolas Prost, alongside Bruno Senna and Julien Canal.
The #13 ended up at 6 seconds of the podium after struggling until the last moments for the hoped third place obtained at the finish by the #36 Signatech Alpine Matmut.
As in the qualifying session, Bruno Senna and Mathias recorded the best lap times of the team with respectively 1:47.933 and 1:47.922.
Aggressive from the first moments, the #31 and #13 were in positions 1 and 2 in the first minutes of the race. An impressive battle took place between the two Vaillante and the current championship leader, the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing, to keep that first position.
Despite irregular weather conditions, Julien Canal and David Heinemeier Hansson made good stints at 2 hours of racing while keeping the cars in the top 3.
Drivers Filipe Albuquerque and Luis Felipe (Pipo) Derani made a thrilling start to the German circuit, allowing both Vaillante REBELLION to remain at the forefront of the LMP2 classification, keeping P2 and P3 in the category.
The last changes took place at four and a half hours of racing with the return of Bruno Senna and Mathias Beche until the checkered flag.
An amazing race on all sides that will have kept all its promises on both performance and motivation. No doubt that the team will be keen to stand up to the leaders of the championship and hoping to end the next races with two Vaillante REBELLION on the podium.
Next meeting on September 3 in Mexico City for the round 5 of this FIA WEC World Endurance Championship!
Julien Canal, #31 driver:
” I am satisfied with our race, we welcomed a new driver: Filipe Albuquerque. We had a very good feeling together and also in terms of tuning the car. One of the keys of this weekend to win the race was the traffic on the track with the other competitors. The obvious non-respect of the blue flag of some cars that did not play the podium that were 1 to 2 laps behind us, cost us a lot of time. We also have to keep working to catch up with leaders Jota #38, everything is still possible for the championship! “
Filipe Albuquerque, #31 driver:
” I am happy with the result of today because the winners did a perfect race. We had some troubles on lapping some slower LMP2 but that was not the reason to not win it. Overall i am happy to meet Vaillante REBELLION and to work with Bruno and Julien. Thanks for the ride and good luck to the rest of the season. “
Mathias Beche, #13 driver:
” We were determined to take our revenge after Le Mans. The weekend was mixed, with ups and downs. We were able to achieve a good performance in the Qualifying Session with the 2nd best lap time. In the race, I had a good start and the pace on our first stints was good. Unfortunately the car degraded too much the rear tires and the second stints were complicated. At the end of the race we were fighting for the podium and we lose it on the last pitstop, the Alpine being on a different strategy stopping later. At the end of the race I had to save gas and I gave everything to go back to Lapierre. Unfortunately the front of the car was damaged earlier in the race and my pace was not fast enough to carry an attack. I still keep a lot of positive over the weekend. The championship is very competitive and we have to work even harder on the details that will allow us to gain victory. “
David Heinemeier Hansson, #13 driver:
” Every second counts in the WEC. We lost too many of them to small mistakes to make it to the podium. We will try to improve for Mexico. “
Pipo Derani, #13 driver:
” It was a very tight race between the top 4 and every single detail made a difference today. We finished fourth and really close to p3. Working with Rebellion for the first time was great and I wish them all the best for the rest of the season! “
