Thursday, 24 January 2019

FIA WEC: Nathanaël Berthon joins Rebellion Racing in 2019

Nathanaël Berthon will start a new adventure at the 1000 Miles of Sebring next March with Team REBELLION Racing. He will participate in the last three rounds of the FIA ​​WEC Super Season 2018-2019 but also in the entire Super Season 2019-2020.


Nathanaël Berthon has evolved into single-seater racing competition and eventually entered the GP2 category. He has since completed tests in Formula 1 and has raced three times in Formula E. Since 2014, Nathanaël Berthon has also been evolving in endurance: with Lotus in LMP1 and in international teams such as Panis Barthez Competition in LMP2 category. He did the best chrono of the LMP2 category in free practice and the best lap race of the category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2018 with Team Dragonspeed. After spending 2018 mainly focused on WTCR, he returns in 2019 to endurance prototypes by joining Team REBELLION Racing.

At this moment it's not exactly clear how the addition of Berthon will change the crew of the #3 Rebellion R13. 

Calim Bouhadra, vice-president of REBELLION
“We are delighted to welcome Nathanaël Berthon to the REBELLION Racing family. I would like to thank Olivier Panis who allowed us to be in touch with Nathanaël and to obtain his services. Personally, that's exactly what I love about endurance: that spirit of fellowship and fraternity. Olivier knows Nathanael very well, knows his value, and that has convinced us that he is the right driver for us to be even stronger against tough opponents like Toyota. I am sure he will be successful with us.”

Nathanaël Berthon, N.3 driver
“I am very happy that REBELLION's LMP1 team trusts me. The idea of participating in the World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, in 2019 and in 2020, with a team and a car playing to win, is a great source of motivation for me! REBELLION’s ambitions are big, and to be a part of this project makes me feel proud and also brings strong responsibility. I want to thank everyone who made this possible. I can’t wait to be in Sebring to get to know the team, the proto R13 and work alongside my future teammates!”

Olivier Panis, Director of Triple A Motorsport, Management of Nathanaël Berthon
“I have excellent relations with the REBELLION Racing team and I’m aware of the talent of Nathanaël, I thought it would be interesting for the two parties to work together. Nathanaël is a very fast driver, author of very impressive chronos at Le Mans last year. I can easily talk about it because he signed the first pole position of Panis-Barthez Competition in ELMS. In LMP2, he has always been one of the top drivers, so seeing him driving a LMP1 car and fighting with Toyota is really exciting.”