Rebellion's Mathias Beche steps down to tackle ELMS with TDS Racing
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 told Autosport 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.
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