Rebellion stripped of Le Mans podium, #13 car disqualified

Vaillante Rebellion Racing has been stripped of its overall podium finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans after it was found to have breached the regulations with its #13 Oreca 07 Gibson in the closing stages of the race.

With five of the six LMP1 runners failing to hit the podium, LMP2 cars rose towards the top of the order at Le Mans on Sunday.

Rebellion scored an overall third place finish with its #13 Oreca, taking second in the LMP2 class, to mark its best result in the 24-hour classic to date.

However, the FIA stewards at Le Mans confirmed on Monday that the #13 Oreca had now been disqualified after video footage emerged of Rebellion crew members working on the car illegally through a bodywork infringement.

Rebellion appeared to cut a hole in the back of the chassis in order to get to the starter motor while the car was in the garage, breaching the technical regulations in the process.

This was the circular opening on the #13 @RebellionRacing's bodywork, a modification that failed tech post-race. #LeMans24 @radiolemans pic.twitter.com/yg3Jv4gThl-- Peter Leung (@BaronVonClutch) June 19, 2017

As a result, David Henemeier-Hansson, Mathias Beche and Nelson Piquet Jr. have been stripped of their third-place finish, although the team does intend to appeal.

This promotes the second Jackie Chan DC Racing #37 Oreca onto the overall podium, giving the Jota-run team a one-two class finish in the process after the #38 Oreca finished P2 behind the race-winning Porsche #2 919 Hybrid in LMP1.

The #35 Signatech Alpine Oreca is now classified fourth, while United Autosports takes fifth on its Le Mans debut with the #32 Ligier JS P217 Gibson.