24 Hours of Le Mans: News, Photos and Travel Tips » peugeot

Team Peugeot Total takes first two places at Spa

admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 08:52:57 +0000

Team Peugeot Total put two cars in the first two places at this year’s second Le Mans Series race at Spa. Audi Sport Team Joest came in third. Detailed results and timing can be found at the Le Mans Series website.

In LM-GT1, the first three places were taked by Ford GTs.

After One Hour Audi Takes The Lead at Le Castellet

admin — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 10:15:45 +0000

Despite Oreca starting the race in pole position, the Audi R15 Plus driven by McNish takes takes the lead in the 8 Hours of Castellet, one hour after the start. Second right now is the Aston Martin 009 driven by Stefan Mucke, one lap and about 3 seconds behind the Audi. Oreca’s Peugeot 908 which was trailing the Audi just a few minutes ago is no in 34^th position, six laps and almost two minutes behind the Audi.

Oreca in Pole Position at Le Castellet

admin — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 10:00:13 +0000

Nicolas Lapierre of team Oreca-Matmut’s driver managed to outpace the brand new Audi R15 plus during the last qualifying laps at the Hours of Castellet. Oreca has staged an impressive effort, making good use its Peugeot 908 HDi FAP and its impressive driver line-up including Olivier Panis and Stéphane Sarrazin. The Audi left second on the starting grid, just a few tens of a second behind the Peugeot.

Peugeot wins Sebring

admin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:59:58 +0000

Peugeot Sport this weekend took the first two places at the 12 Hours of Sebring, the American Le Mans Series opening race, and Aston Martin took the third place. Drayson Racing‘s Lola-Judd driven by Emanuele Piro was running second in the early stages of the race, but had to fall back because of mechanical problems.

This was an important victory for Peugeot in preparation for Le Mans. Aston Martin and Drayson provided strong opposition and forced the French team to push their limits. Even though these are very encouraging results, Peugeot’s main competition at Le Mans will come from Audi and their new R15 TDi Plus, and it’s only safe to imagine they’ll put up a serious fight to make up for last year’s failure.

Oreca Receive their Peugeot 908 HDi FAP

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:32:06 +0000

If you follow Le Mans racing regularly you probably remember that Team Oreca has closed a partnership with Peugeot Sport to race a Peugeot 908 HDi FAP for the following two 24 Hours of Le Mans and Le Mans Series seasons. You might also remember that last year Pescarolo was the one who ran the extra 908 at the 24 Hours, but that didn’t go that well. The Pescarolo Sport ran Peugeot 908 crashed into a one of its factory ran sister cars in the pit lane, which damaged both cars and caused delays. Even though the incident was strictly Peugeot’s fault, guess who didn’t get a diesel prototype to play with this year?

Anyways, Team Oreca have received their 908 and they made a video. Have a look, this is one of the rare opportunities to see a black, undecorated 908. I personally like it more this way, how about you?

Oreca 908 HDI	Pescarolo/Peugeot Pitlane Crash
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lBbyrRx5Js	www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruPGsSPKz54

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Perspectives

admin — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:37:13 +0000

When the A.C.O. launched the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup late 2009 many in the endurance racing community applauded the initiative but only a few committed to participate. With races scheduled on three continents, the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup is meant to be a global, high end event, reserved to LMP1 prototypes. Only three races are scheduled for 2010 but the A.C.O. says there will be at least six in 2011 and the number is supposed to grow. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the A.C.O.’s long term goal to claim some Formula 1 territory and that might just work if they manage to secure enough media coverage and if they manage to keep the series clean.

Another important factor for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup to succeed is to secure enough prestigious participants, and that’s where things don’t go so well, yet. While Audi announced their support immediately, committing to send their R15 Plus to all three races, Peugeot say that while the creation of the global series is the right thing to do and they support the initiative they are more likely not to participate this first season. Their priority for 2010 is the development of a new car and winning the 24 Hours Of Le Mans 2010.

Among the private teams, Kolles from Le Mans Series and Drayson Racing from the the American Le Mans Series have announced plans to participate. Hugues de Chaunac, the Oreca boss said the new series is great news but didn’t make any commitment.

While things don’t look very bright at the moment, the Intercontinental will only debut in September at Silverstone, so teams have nine more months to secure funding and enlist.

Peugeot Partners with Oreca for the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2010 and 2011

admin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:57:46 +0000

Peugeot Sport announced they have decided to trust Team Oreca Matmut with a LMP1 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP prototype for the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2010 and 2011. According to the announcement, Oreca was chosen for their professionalism, performance record and because they were able to prove the availability of the funds required to run the Peugeot prototype at the 24 Hours.

We all remember that last year Pescarolo Sport was chosen to race the spare 908 at the 24 Hours, but that didn’t turn out very well. Pescarolo’s 908 HDi collided with a factory Peugeot in the pit lane. It was clearly Peugeot’s fault. Le Mans rules are very clear: a car cannot leave the pit as long as another car is running on the pit lane. Pescarolo’s Peugeot was already running when the factory Peugeot was instructed to leave and the two cars collided. Even though it was clearly their fault, Peugeot tried to blame it on Pescarolo. That didn’t work and apparently Peugeot haven’t gotten over it yet because this year Peugeot’s spare diesel prototype will go to Oreca instead.

How bad is this for Pescarolo? Hard to say. Pescarolo is now part of a powerful industrial group and the multiple La Mans winner has proven very resourceful in the past so I’m confident he’ll always find a way to tackle big factory teams. Go Pesca!

Christian Klien Not Sure About the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2010, Favors F1

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:57:30 +0000

In an interview published on his web site, Christian Klien says he’s unable to commit to drive for Peugeot at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2010. Christian explains he would like to concentrate on Formula 1 next year and cannot sign with Peugeot until his situation clarifies. If he manages to secure a seat on the 2010 F1 grid he will most probably drop out of Le Mans, mostly beacuse the 2010 Le Mans date clashes with the Canadian F1 Grand Prix.

Klien’s focus on Formula 1 is understandable, given the unique reshaping the series is going through these days. With all the big teams stepping out and a bunch new teams with great potential stepping, Klien has a fair chance to secure a comfortable contract if he plays his cards right.

Peugeot Wins the Petit Le Mans

admin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:59:30 +0000

The two Peugeot 908 HDi FAP finished first and second today in the Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta, counting for the American Le Mans Series. The two Audi R15 TDi finished 3rd and 4th. The two Audis have dominated the race but but slowed down as rain started to fall, a change that Peugeot drivers did not miss.

A Diesel Powered Radical SR10 at Petit Le Mans

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:31:58 +0000

Autolog Green reports that ECO Racing will put a diesel powered Radical SR10 on the grid at Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. While nobody expects them to win against Peugeot or Audi, ECO Racing should be able to put up a fair fight. Radical has extensive endurance racing experience, including in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Fitted with a diesel engine and with the right racing strategy, the Radical SR10 has a good chance to walk away with a nice result.