Automobiles Review

Tag: Peugeot 908

24 Hours Le Mans: June 11/12, 2011

At a glance: All three Team Peugeot Total cars made it to the end, but Audi R18 LDI no.2 is the winner. The race was full of accidents and interesting moments.

“The die is cast, we are set for a magnificent duel between two great manufacturers,” commented Olivier Quesnel.

“We feel that we have done a good job. But this is sport, and the outcome will now be decided out on the track,” added Bruno Famin. Throughout the 24 hours of the race, the Peugeot 908s demonstrated the performance level and reliability of their cars. Twenty four hours at an incredible pace, without any let up for mechanics or the drivers, twenty four hours that held the attention of hundreds of millions of fans, TV viewers and web users.”, he added.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZJPir6NaHY&feature=share

As forecast, fine rain began to fall at around 11am. Thanks to making the right choice of tyres, Peugeot Sport engineers help Simon Pagenaud to close to within 30’’ of André Lotterer.

The end of the race looked on course to be a head-to-head fight between the two men. At 14:24, both cars dived into the pit lane at the same time for a final stop. Pagenaud kept his Michelin tyres, whereas Lotterer opted to put on a new set of tyres. The two leaders came back out separated by less than ten seconds! Taking full advantage of his fresh tyres, Lotterer pulled away a little as the laps went by, and went on to clinch the win. Peugeot’s three 908s finished in second (no.9), third (no.8) and fourth (no.7) positions. The Peugeot 908 HDi FAP run by Oreca rounded off the top five of one of the closest ever editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

24 Hours Le Mans June 2011

Final race positions:

1. Fassler/Lotterer/Lreluyer, Audi R18 LDI no.2, 355 laps in 24H02’21’’525
2. Bourdais/Lamy/Pagenaud, Peugeot 908 N°9, + 13’’854
3. Minassion/Montagny/Sarrazin, Peugeot 908 N°8, +2L
4. Davidson/Gené/Wurz, Peugeot 908 N°7, +4L
5. Duval/Lapierre/Panis, Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Oreca no.10, +16L
6. Jani/Prost/Bleekemolen, Lola Loyota no.12, +17L
7. Ickx/Martin/Leinders, Lola Aston Martin, +27L…

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Standings:

Manufacturers:
1. Peugeot, 103 points
2. Audi, 69 points

Teams:
1. Audi Sport Team Joest, 50 points
2. Team Peugeot Total, 49 points
3. Team Oreca-Matmut, 34 points
4. Rebellion Racing, 26 points

Source: Peugeot

June 13, 2011
1 000 KM of Spa-Francochamps

The 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours is the biggest upcoming motor sport event. That’s why Team Peugeot Total had a test day held on 24^th April, which is crucial to acquire important data necessary to ensure it arrives at Le Mans with the best possible car set-up.

There will be three Peugeot 908s with totally nine drivers, who have two targets. The first one is to prepare for Le Mans without taking any risks and the second is picking up ILMC points.

“The ILMC season got underway with a podium spot at Sebring, after an intense 12-hour race. The conditions were perfect to prepare for our main target of the year, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Since then, the cars have had a lot of track time in private testing. The test day really got us into the mood at Le Mans; competing in this race at Spa-Francorchamps is the best way of checking that our racing reflexes are well and truly in place. The entire team will be at the event. We will be working in the same conditions that we’ll have in Le Mans. The ILMC is an important goal for us; however, we are not going to go after the race win at any cost, just a few weeks away from Le Mans. Above all, we need to make it to the end of the 1,000 kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps with all three cars intact and collect as much information as we can during the race. If we manage that, Peugeot will undoubtedly come away with a serious haul of points.”, commented Olivier Quesnel, Peugeot Sport Director.

Team Peugeot Total is unbeaten since 2007 and the great success came in 2010, when they recorded a one-two at the 1 000 kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps. The race was won by Sébastien Bourdais, Simon Pagenaud and Pedro Lamy, followed by Franck Montagny and Stéphane Sarrazin in second.

This year, the official driver line-ups are identical to those of 2010:

Peugeot 908 No.7 (blue rear-view mirrors):
Anthony Davidson, Marc Gené and Alexander Wurz

Peugeot 908 No.8 (white rear-view mirrors):
Nicolas Minassian, Franck Montagny and Stéphane Sarrazin

Peugeot 908 No.9 (red rear-view mirrors):
Sébastien Bourdais, Pedro Lamy and Simon Pagenaud

Check out the schedule for the event, below!

SCHEDULE FOR THE 1 000 KM OF SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS:

Thursday 5 May 2011
12.20pm – 1.20pm: Free practice
2.45pm – 3.10pm: Press briefing at the Peugeot Sport hospitality area
4.55pm – 5.55pm: Free practice

Friday 6 May 2011
11.50am – 12.50pm: Free practice
4.20pm – 4.40pm: LMP1/LMP2 qualifying

Saturday 7 May 2011
9.55am – 10.15am: Warm up
2pm – 8pm: 1,000 kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps

ILMC STANDINGS BEFORE SPA:

Manufacturers:
1. Peugeot, 27 points
2. Audi, 17 points

Teams:
1. Team Oreca Matmut, 15 points
2. Team Peugeot Total, 12 points
3. Audi Sport Team Joest, 9 points
4. Rebellion Racing, 6 points

Source: Peugeot

May 4, 2011
2011 Peugeot 908 Le Mans

Peugeot 908 Le Mans will go against Audi R18 in this years Le Mans races.

2011 Peugeot 908 Le Mans is powered by a 3.7 liter V8 with 550HP. It replaces the old V12 and is expected to have better efficiency and fuel consumption. The new engine was put on test on January 25th for the first time.

This season, the 2011 Peugeot 908 Le Mans will be driven by Sebastien Bourdais, Alex Wurz, Stephane Sarrazin and Anthony Davidson. (more…)

February 4, 2011