Neel JANI secured the « pole position » for the Petit Le Mans race with a fastest lap time of 1’09”089, four tenths ahead of the HPD car #6 driven by Lucas Luhr.
REBELLION Racing’s Lola-Toyota #12 will start tomorrow’s race from the first position on the grid. This Petit Le Mans Pole position has a high value for the team, this achievement goes into the record books as the first ALMS pole position for REBELLION Racing.
The race will be a competitive one with strong competitors such as Muscle Milk and Dyson Racing who are racing for the ALMS championship win. They will be formidable opponents to the team’s Lola-Toyota #12 in tomorrow’s 10 hours race.
Good management of traffic and of the likely numerous safety car interventions on this very technical, crowded and demanding track, will be key factors in the race. The REBELLION Racing team is ready, backing its three drivers Neel Jani, Nicolas Prost and Andrea Belicchi to meet this U.S. challenge with the aim of taking home the Petit Le Mans trophy to add to the team’s prize cabinet.
Neel Jani – Lola-Toyota #12 :
« We are really happy to race here in the USA. American tracks are really challenging for drivers who have to push hard their limits to be fast. There are a lot of people here and race time is a real big party. Tomorrow, we will not be part of the Muscle Milk and Dyson battle for the win of the ALMS Championship ; we are coming here with only one goal : to win the Petit Le Mans race !»
Bart Hayden REBELLION Racing Team Manager :
« Before qualifying we were confident of taking the pole position, for us it was just a question of finding a lap clear of traffic. Nonetheless, the gap to the next cars is not big, so we know tomorrow’s race will be hard. Congratulations to Neel for driving the pole winning lap so well and 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 race and hope that it is an exciting one for everyone.»
The start of the race will be at 11h30 (15h30 GMT), Saturday 21st October.