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After a good start from 5th position on the grid, Neel Jani took the lead of the LMP1 privateer field from the first corner, driving his Lola-Toyota #12 to fourth position overall. After a trouble free triple stint, the Swiss driver handed over the wheel to Nicolas Prost who extended their lead on the other competitors.
Unfortunately, just after the end of his first stint, the car spun after a contact with the GT #57 which had previously been involved in a contact with the Audi #1 during the third hour of the race. The #12 Lola-Toyota was forced to pit to change tires and later for a second time after a decision from the stewards for a stop & go penalty.
The stop & go was made one lap before the scheduled driver change but the #12 car lost again precious time replacing damaged bodywork at the rear-end a consequence of the earlier contact.
Neel Jani took again the wheel from seventh position. Pushing hard to recover, Neel over took the #22 HPD-Honda. The #12 Lola-Toyota of Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost ended the race sixth overall and third in the LMP1 Privateer field.
The Lola-Toyota #13 started the race with Andrea Belicchi at the wheel from sixth position. After a strong double stint, Andrea Belicchi gave the wheel to Harold Primat. Fifteen minutes later, the Swiss driver of the #13 overtook the #21 HPD-Honda of Nick Leventis, taking fifth position overall. Benefiting from the bad luck of the sister #12 car, the two drivers of #13 Lola-Toyota produced fast stints in defense of their fourth position.
Andrea Belicchi had a one-to-one battle with Dany Watts aboard #21 HPD-Honda. Delivering a good balance between performance and consumption, the #13 Lola-Toyota of Andrea Belicchi and Harold Primat secured the best result possible, fourth overall and first of the LMP1 Privateer field.
Neel Jani – Lola-Toyota #12 : "I made a good start and put in a strong triple stint. At the mid race, we were, with Nico, fourth overall, one minute ahead of the petrol cars. The penalty and the unscheduled stops ended our race because we lost more than 2 minutes doing this. And as all the cars were driving more or less at the same speed, it has been impossible to catch back up. It's a pity but we have taken the points we could take. We are now 4th in the driver classification and are still aiming for the 3rd place. And we are leading the FIA WEC Trophy of Best Privateer Team."
Nicolas Prost – Lola-Toyota #12 : "Everything was under control until the Ferrari hit me. After that, all went wrong. The damage on the rear of the car forced us to change it. Of course we are sad not to finish first Privateer LMP1 car. I'm disappointed for Neel that have done a very strong race. Nevertheless, we scored good points for the drivers’ classification. We are now in fourth position."
Andrea Belicchi – Lola-Toyota #13 : "All the team have done a fantastic job. I gave my best to stay ahead and it was hard. We had no problem during all the race and we finished with less than seven tenths in front of the Strakka HPD-Honda after a very big fight. After my victory last year here in LMS, this 6 Hours of Silverstone is again a good year !"
Harold Primat – Lola-Toyota # 13 : "This is the conclusion of a very nice week-end. We had very profitable practice sessions that allowed us to secure a good qualifying session, with lap times very tight to the best petrol car lap times. And our third best lap time during the warm-up session just behind the diesel confirmed our competitiveness.
We have had a trouble free race. In a way, we have taken benefit of the troubles of our sister car #12. But it is good to see that when one car of the team can't succeed, the other one can. It shows that we are a strong team and I'm happy with that. Personally, I feel more competitive and we'll have to be more and more efficient to stay ahead."
Bart Hayden REBELLION Racing Team manager: «The whole team should be proud of the job they’ve done this weekend. We are now closer than ever to our second main objective of the season with the FIA WEC LMP1 Team Trophy. I am proud of the guys and the drivers. Once again our partners at Toyota Motorsport and Michelin have helped us to achieve this great result. Now we have a lot of work to do to rebuild and prepare the cars for the four overseas races to come.»
Source: Rebellion Racing
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