A RESOUNDING ONE-TWO TRIUMPH FOR PEUGEOT AT LE MANS
Today saw Team Peugeot Total secure its first victory in the Le Mans 24
Hours with the diesel-powered 908 HDi FAP which contested the French
endurance classic for the first time two years ago in 2007. This
afternoon's result also takes the firm's Le Mans score to three wins
following its previous triumphs in 1992 and 1993. The Peugeot squad
monopolised the top-two places overall in this year's contest. And,
with the exception of a short instant early in the race on Saturday
afternoon, it led from flag to flag; initially with the No.8 car of
Sarrazin/Montagny/Bourdais, then with the No.9 car (Gene/Wurz/Brabham)
which inherited top spot just ahead of the five- hour mark, before
going on to defend its advantage until the finish. The No.7 car
(Minassian/Lamy/Klien) rounded off Peugeot's weekend by completing this
year's thrilling Le Mans clash in sixth spot after collecting a series
of minor setbacks during the night.
Peugeot Sport Director, Olivier Quesnel: "Before the start, I used
a French cycling analogy to describe the crew of the No.8 car as
'sprinters', the No.7 crew as 'road sprinters' and the No.9 drivers as
'warriors'. Today, it was the 'warriors' who won. I really sense that
the public and Automobiles Peugeot wanted this result. We faced a huge
challenge and we succeeded in rising to it. We were here as challengers,
and our mission was to try to topple the favourites. And that is exactly
what we did, essentially by steering clear of the different potential
pitfalls in our path. It turned out to be a terrific race, and Peugeot
Sport is a truly magnificent team. I am so proud of all the people who
were involved in this project. This win is Peugeot Sport's win."
The No.9 Peugeot's distinctly international line-up of Spaniard Marc
Gene, Australia's David Brabham and Austrian driver Alexander Wurz owed
their victory to a trouble-free run which saw them take over at the top
when the other two 908 HDi FAPs were delayed during the first quarter of
the race. After that, the experienced trio focused on driving as quickly
and as consistently as possible in order to push home their advantage
and force their rivals to do all the chasing...
"It's such a great feeling to have won," beamed David Brabham for whom
victory comes at his 16th attempt and whose brother Geoff formed part
of Peugeot's winning trio back in 1993. "Peugeot Sport did a tremendous
job; they really did. It's a great team, they gave us a 100 per cent
reliable car and the three of us drove a faultless race."
Alexander Wurz, the youngest driver ever to win the endurance classic
(1996), notched up his second success in La Sarthe today: "What made the
difference? The fact that we kept it on the track without picking up any
damage. We also had a great team behind us, and a phenomenal car. It's a
fantastic feeling to have won in France in a French car." "To have won a
race this big is the best thing that has ever happened to me," concluded
Marc Gene. "I've never experienced anything like it. It really is a very
emotional moment for me."
The early pace was in fact set by the all-French crew sharing the No.8
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, thanks initially to an assertive, quadruple opening
stint from Franck Montagny who powered away from pole position before
spending three hours building up a handsome cushion at the hottest
moment of the race on Saturday afternoon (28o.C). The Frenchman's
efforts were then relayed by crew-mate and pole-winner Stephane
Sarrazin.
Soon afterwards, however, the No.8 car lost the ground that would later
cost it first place and victory when Sebastien Bourdais, the third man
in the car, pitted with a broken disc bell. That cost the trio almost
10 minutes in repairs. The Le Mans-born driver then collided with a
backmarker, damaging the front of his 908, and the time required to
replace the front part of the body cost a further lap. "It's a great day
for Peugeot," underlined Sebastien Bourdais. "They have worked so hard
for this success and they really deserve it. I have a personal challenge
which is to one day win what is my home race. It was a close-run thing
this year, but I will be back until I succeed!"
"Franck, Sebastien and I are all obviously disappointed not to have won,
but how can I not be happy for the team which wanted this result so
much?" recognised Stephane Sarrazin.
The third Team Peugeot Total car (No.7) suffered a knock-out blow after
just 11 laps when it was hit by another competitor as it was leaving its
pits after its first stop. Once the bitter disappointment of falling to
51st place so soon had been digested, Portugal's Pedro Lamy, Frenchman
Nicolas Minassian and Austria's Christian Klien responded by providing
assistance to their team-mates, evaluating and validating a number of
solutions which were aimed at fine-tuning the front-runners' respective
strategies.
Despite a cascade of minor troubles during the early hours of the
morning, their consistency and determination were rewarded with a plucky
sixth place at the flag.
With victory going to the No.9 car and pole-position to the No.8
machine, everyone went away with something to show for their efforts
since Nicolas Minassian succeeded in posting the fastest race lap of the
weekend: a 3m 24.352s which works out at an average speed of 240.097kph
round the world-famous 13.629km circuit.
Pedro Lamy probably best summed up the feelings of his two team-mates
when he observed that: "When I was hit by the other car in the pit-lane,
I really couldn't believe it. It was so tough really tough to see all
our chances of winning evaporate barely 40 minutes into the race. But
that's racing, and I have to accept it."
Bruno Famin (Technical Director, Peugeot Sport): "We didn't have any
technical problems this weekend; just a few racing incidents which
upset certain gameplans. The Peugeot 908 HDi FAP has demonstrated its
reliability by winning against Audi which has been an invincible force
here for practically a decade. This is the result of not just one, but
four years' hard effort."
-credit: peugeot
