Rebellion Racing started on pole position and was dueling back and forth for the 12 Hours of Sebring lead when it made a routine pit stop, where they discovered the problem with running multiple series, and got stuck in the pits as a result.
Rebellion is used to running in the World Endurance Championship, which mandates that they turn off the car on fuel stops. Out of habit, they turned off their car when it came in for a routine pit stop, despite the fact that the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship that runs the 12 Hours of Sebring doesn’t require that.
Then the car wouldn’t restart. They had to pull the rear cover off the car to troubleshoot the issue, losing vital time. As of 12:58 p.m. ET, the car sits two laps down and ninth in the top Prototype class and tenth overall, having fallen behind one of the slower Prototype Challenge-class cars.
Fortunately, there’s still over nine and a half hours left in the race, and we at least know that this team is wicked fast.
They aren’t the only favorite team who’s run into issues. The No. 4 Corvette had to duck behind the wall due to a water temperature issue. The No. 24 BMW M6 also spent a lengthy amount of time sorting an issue with their car, and the No. 2 Extreme Speed Motorsports Nissan DPi remains behind the wall for continuing mechanical issues.
No. 13 is back out for now, but you’ve got to feel heartbroken for that team after they were so fast in qualifying. Maybe endurance series should standardize their pit stop procedures after all.