Sunday’s 6 Hours of Silverstone appeared to result in a straightforward one-two for the pair of Toyota TS050 Hybrids. However, post-race technical checks resulted in both cars being disqualified from the race, leaving Rebellion Racing to inherit its own one-two finish at the third round of the season.
The FIA technical delegates at Silverstone found that the vertical deflection on the front skid block – in other words the margin by which the skid block is permitted to move in a vertical direction – exceeded the regulated maximum of 5mm on both cars. Toyota Gazoo Racing said in a statement that it was “evaluating its next course of action”.
Neither car was involved in any serious incidents during the race that may have led to underfloor damage. Toyota Gazoo Racing stated that the only possible explanation for the additional wear was the car “running off track”. “The stewards considered this possibility but determined that the design of the car must be able to withstand the normal rigors of a 6 hours endurance race,” the Silverstone race stewards wrote in their technical bulletin.
As a result, the victory has been handed to the #3 Rebellion Racing R13 – Gibson of Mathias Beche, Thomas Laurent and Gustavo Menezes. The #1 Rebellion Racing car of Neel Jani and André Lotterer is moved up to second place, while the #17 SMP Racing BR1 of Stéphane Sarrazin and Egor Orudzhev inherits third position.
You can find our original race report here.
Image (c) WEC-Magazin / Walter Schruff