News courtesy of Rebellion Racing.
Neel JANI dominated the qualifying session for the 65th edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring with the #13 REBELLION Racing Oreca 07 Gibson powered car and secured the Pole Position with a fastest lap time of 1:48.178.
This is the Swiss Team’s and Neel Jani’s first Pole Position in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. REBELLION Racing and Neel Jani previously captured four Pole Positions at the time of the ALMS from 2012 to 2013.
Today’s achievement is also the first ever Pole Position for the new Oreca 07 LMP2 car and REBELLION Racing is deeply proud to provide this milestone to their constructor partner.
The #13 REBELLION Racing Oreca 07 Gibson powered car will start tomorrow’s 12 Hours of Sebring race from the first position on the grid and the whole Swiss team will aim to keep that position at the end of the race. Being quick in qualifying means a lot, but we all have seen that the race can be a different story, especially here at Sebring.
This Pole position for the 65th edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring has a high value for the team, as the they along with the drivers Neel Jani, Sebastien Buemi and Nick Heidfeld have worked really hard since the Daytona 24 race to be back strongly at the front.
Neel Jani – #13 REBELLION Racing Oreca 07 : “It was a good Qualifying session, we didn’t expected to be P1. We had a few issues in free practice and we had to play a lot of catch up. There is no ideal lap here at Sebring, you have to improvise as it’s so bumpy, it’s always a nice and challenging track. We saw in Daytona that we were close in qualifying, but in the race the Cadillacs were really fast. I think that tomorrow it will be an other game to translate this Pole into a win. For sure we will try to stay at the front as long as possible !”
Bart Hayden REBELLION Racing Team Manager : “Before qualifying we were not completely confident of taking the pole position, as we knew the Cadillacs had been quick since the beginning of the weekend and also because it’s always a question of finding a lap clear of traffic without mistakes. Nonetheless, the gap to the next cars is very small, so we know tomorrow’s race will be close. Congratulations to Neel for driving so well the pole winning lap and many thanks to the engineers and mechanics for working so hard to get the setup and preparation right with the car. We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s 12 Hours of Sebring race and hope that it will be an exciting one for everyone.”
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Neil Simmons
Twitter: @world_racing