After Friday afternoon’s qualifying session for the 2015 Lone Star Le Mans FIA WEC 6 Hours of COTA race, Nick Heidfeld and Mathias Beche secured their third Pole position of the season in the LMP1 Privateers for the #12 Rebellion R-One AER.
They achieved an average lap time of 1:53.950 and a fastest lap of 1:53.773. The sister Rebellion R-One AER car #13 driven by Alexandre Imperatori and Daniel Abt secured second fastest time in the LMP1 Privateers.
In so doing, the two Rebellion R-One AER cars will start tomorrow’s race from the fourth row.
Nick Heidfeld topped the whole field with the best top speed of the qualifying session with a 300.8 km/h recorded in his fastest lap. Daniel Abt was ranked third in top speed, following the #7 Audi, with 299.2 km/h.
Nick Heidfeld – Rebellion R-One AER #12 : « The quali session was quite difficult even though we finished in front. I had an engine control issue during my flying lap, the engine went into the safety mode on the straight and I had to abort my lap. In my second lap the peak of the new tyres had gone, so I know that we could have achieved more lap time, but at least we are in front ! »
Mathias Beche – Rebellion R-One AER #12 : « I had the time for just one flying lap so I couldn’t get the front tyres to exactly the right pressure, so I am not fully happy with the lap. We have some work to do to analyse the data and work on the balance for tomorrow’s race. »
Bart Hayden, REBELLION Racing Team Manager : « The high ambient temperatures during qualifying at COTA cause a couple of technical problems which slightly hindered our performance, but the drivers did well to achieve the lap times that they posted, especially as the session was interrupted by a red flag, so we are reasonably happy. Tomorrow’s race will be tough in the heat and we know that we have a challenge ahead. Ahead of the race, we have a few changes to make with the set ups of the cars. The race starts in the evening, so we have plenty of time to get ready. »