Super Trofeo Stories: A Rebelleo with a cause

Forming a start-up team in any motorsport category is often a tough ask, but to do so in a one-make series as competitive and long-standing as Lamborghini Super Trofeo is quite another thing altogether. But that’s precisely what Rebelleo Motorsport has done at the start of the 2023 season.

Co-founded by driver Abbie Eaton, the team aims to break down the stereotypical barriers seen in motorsport through equality, diversity and opportunity. For the driver herself, this season also marks a return to her roots in GT racing, having spent time keeping the dream alive in the all-female single seater W Series for the past three years.

“I’ve kind of always done GTs rather than formula cars but budget has always been a bit of an issue over the years,” explains Eaton.

“And I eventually got to the point where I didn’t have enough money to race anymore and there were a few drives around but nothing full season which is what I was after. But then, W Series, because it was fully funded, it made sense and that’s kind of why I had to make the decision to go there. I never really wanted to do formula cars, it just wasn’t as aspirational to pursue but it was a good experience, I learned a lot.

“Because of the injury, there were limitations as to what I could do with the car, I couldn’t drive it 100% and basically at the end of last year, W Series had to stop, and I was thinking about what to do next. I’d always wanted to get back to GT racing, but the money just wasn’t there.

“And then all of a sudden, out of the blue, I got a really awesome opportunity to set up a new team and to go GT racing which is how I ended up in Super Trofeo this year.”

Based in the UK and set up at the start of 2023, Rebelleo Motorsport is a totally new entity. But it is also astutely aware that entering a series like Super Trofeo as complete novices without some degree of expertise and expecting immediate success is some way off the mark.

That’s why it has enlisted the support of reigning champion team and Super Trofeo veterans Bonaldi Motorsport and Lamborghini Milano to oversee operations during its maiden voyage into the one-make championship reserved for Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2s.

“The team is basically a long-term setup,” says Eaton. “So, this is our first year and we’re run by Bonaldi Motorsport for the year, and we are using their team and expertise with a view to setting up our own team in the future.

“Our investor, who is funding this project, and I, don’t think jumping two-footed into GT World Challenge is a very big step, so it’s better to edge our way in slowly, so he can learn what he likes, and I can see what I like.

“It’s an awesome team at Bonaldi, the lads are great, and they have a lot of experience and success in Super Trofeo and various GT championships in the past. When we decided to jump into Super Trofeo, we wanted to partner with a top team, and we had done a bit of research. I’d tested with another team as well and Bonaldi felt like the best fit.

“The teams that have been at the top of Super Trofeo for years are the ones who know the championship inside out and they are all at a very similar level, it was just a case of finding what felt right for us.”

What Bonaldi doesn’t know about Super Trofeo simply isn’t worth knowing, and the partnership got off to a successful start on the opening weekend of the season at Paul Ricard.

It wasn’t without its trials and tribulations, though, as the #33 Huracán was sent spinning the wrong way at the start of race one after Eaton’s team-mate Daan Arrow was tipped around at turn three, dropping the car to 28th. 

The recovery of Arrow – a three-time race winner in Super Trofeo Europe – and Eaton following the mandatory pit-stops was impressive and their 13th place finish at the end provided enough motivation to push for a much stronger result on Sunday.

Starting sixth on the grid, the pair stayed out of trouble during the second 50-minute encounter and brought the car home sixth at the flag, scoring valuable points but amassing even more valuable experience ahead of Spa-Francorchamps.

And that’s the plan for the first season for the start-up team, which has the eventual aim of employing its own mechanics and engineers and perhaps moving up the GT ranks in years to come.

“I’ve got to know Daan really well in the off-season, he’s a nice kid. When we were looking for the second driver in the car, we were looking for someone who is obviously fast, but also someone who we could help on our journey too.

“What Rebelleo wants to do in the longer-term is to have an impact on the track and support and give opportunities to drivers who perhaps don’t have the full financial package to forge a career in motorsport or people who want to get into the sport. So, like mechanics, engineers, that will come later down the line when the team is a bit more established.

“But with Daan, we just wanted to help him on his way up the GT ladder, he’s obviously got a drive in GT Open [with Oregon Team] this year as well. And I can use his knowledge of the car as well to help us and me get up to speed with it too.”

For now, the focus is on the immediate, and that is the second round of the 2023 season at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, running on the support bill of the Spa 24 Hours.