On Saturday Rebecca competed in the Road to Le Mans race just hours before the main 24-hour race started.
This is after just over three years of hard work and dedication to get her to arguably the most prestigious motorsport endurance event in the world.
Team mate Jesus Fuster went out first in the LMP3 Ligier but an incident on the formation lap put him at the back of the pack. He caught up to the field and made up some places over the next 25 minutes before coming into the pits to swap with Rebecca.
In the run up to the race, on-track time was very limited especially when a wheel hub issue meant they missed the entire hour of free practice two. Despite this, the pair managed to make up some places and Rebecca shaved an amazing 16 seconds off her qualifying lap time. Le Mans clearly starting to etch itself into her mind.
It was a challenging race due to many incidents and subsequent slow zones. This meant the racers had to adjust their driving from speeds of 200kph right down to just 80kph, in a bid to keep the racing as safe as possible for both marshals and drivers. Team Manager Dalius Steponavicius was delighted with both Jesus and Rebecca’s performance as well as completing the race penalty free. The Spanish Speed Factory team finished in a very respectful 15th place.
Rebecca and her team mate were up against some very talented drivers including Le Mans competitor and former Formula One driver Martin Brundle – who finished second – and Jan Lammers, who won the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1990 24 Hours of Daytona, both with Jaguar.
Rebecca says: “It feels incredible to have raced at Le Mans. One of the best moments of my life! The last three and a half years of hard work really were worth it. I am now a Le Mans racer and I’ll always remember how it felt to race at such an historic track.”
While Project Le Mans can be counted as a success, Rebecca isn’t stopping here and this certainly isn’t a time to rest on her laurels. She’s enjoying this achievement but the hard work continues.
As well as racing in the SRO European GT Series and MINI Challenge this season, Rebecca is now thinking ahead and is already in talks about competing in the main 24-hour race next year. Racing an LMP3 prototype extends Rebecca’s abilities and the next logical step is an LMP2 car. This experience opens more doors for the future, including Le Mans next year but also for endurance and sportscar racing in general. Project Le Mans will grow and develop as the next chapter opens and Rebecca continues to climb her way up the motorsport ladder. For now however, celebrate with Rebecca in this great achievement!
