Zoom Audi aiming to get the better of Peugeot

The 7.004km Belgian circuit of Spa Francorchamps, nestled in the heart of the Ardennes region of Belgium, has a long association with endurance racing having run its first 24 hour race in 1924, one year after the inaugural Le Mans 24 hours, and ran its first 1000km race in 1966.

Since then, the track has evolved from a layout that took the cars to the villages of Malmedy and Stavelot before returning to Francorchamps. Today, drivers still look forward to the thrill of the Eau Rouge and Blanchimont corners and many rate the circuit it as their favourite track.

The fight for victory at Monza between Audi and Peugeot could not have been closer, with the lead cars from both manufacturers banging wheels less than 50km from the end of the race to decide the race in favour of Peugeot.

However, the consistent finishing of Mike Rockenfeller and Alexandre Premat means that they lead the drivers' title for Audi.

Peugeot is using the series to prepare for Le Mans, and at Spa will introduce two drivers to its line up – Alexander Wurz and Jacques Villeneuve. Villeneuve, the 1997 Formula One World Champion, raced at Le Mans for Peugeot in 2007 and will return for a second attempt this year, sharing the diesel-powered 908 Hdi FAP with Nicolas Minassian and Marc Gene. Wurz, a winner at Le Mans in 1996, was immediately taken with the prospect of driving the Peugeot when he saw it in testing. Now, his dream will become a reality as he lines up at Spa with Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy.

Theirs is not the only story in the class. The French ORECA team will slim down to one car, to be driven by Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre after the accident that befell Stephane Ortelli at Monza. And the Creation team will also field just one car, for Bruce Jouanny and Stuart Hall.

Their team-mate Jamie Campbell-Walter had an accident in qualifying at Monza was '100 percent not Jamie's fault,' according to Creation team manager Ian Bickerton.

The number of LMP1 cars has fallen, but there is no loss of quality. The Aston Martin-powered Lola will be driven by Stefan Mucke and Jan Charouz, and more is expected of the car that took a podium on its debut in Barcelona. Ignition problems interrupted a fantastic performance at Monza, where Mucke took his turn to lead the race overall.

Closely contesting the overall podium in the final throes of the race was the Pescarolo team with Christophe Tinseau and Harold Primat after another reliable run. The sister car of Emmanuel Collard and Jean-Christophe Boullion, which had a brake problem at Monza, will take part in the race, as will the second Epsilon Euskadi with drivers yet to be named. Joao Barbosa returns to the Rollcentre Pescarolo team, sharing with Vanina Ickx.

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