WEC: Beche swaps Rebellion for TDS LMP2

Mathias Beche will step down from Rebellion Racing's World Endurance Championship LMP1 line-up to drive for TDS Racing at the Le Mans 24 Hours this season.

The Swiss driver's return to the French TDS squad at the blue-riband round of the WEC is part of a deal for him to race for the French team in the full European Le Mans Series.

Beche, 29, will drive the team's ORECA-Nissan 05 in all six rounds of the championship and at Le Mans as part of a so-far unconfirmed line-up that will include team regular Pierre Thiriet. He is scheduled to drive the lead Rebellion-AER R-One in the WEC together with Nicolas Prost, which whom he won the P1 privateers' title in the WEC last year, and Nick Heidfeld.

Beche said: "Racing at Le Mans in the LMP2 class with a car capable of winning the race will be very exciting. It's a race that I dream of winning and I think LMP2 this year will be the most contested category."

Beche drove for TDS in the ELMS (formerly the Le Mans Series) in 2011-13, winning the title in a truncated series in 2012. He also raced for the team in last year's Spa 24 Hours at the wheel of a BMW Z4 GT3.

Rebellion boss Bart Hayden said that no decision had been made on a replacement for Beche.

"There are two possibilities: either we go for a big name driver or someone with some funding," he said.

The return of Beche to TDS is also part of a wider sponsorship arrangement between the two teams that will result in Rebellion Timepieces sponsoring TDS and the Thiriet family's food retail business appearing on the LMP1 cars in the WEC.

Originally on Autosport.com