Zoom Can Peugeot beat Audi's string of Le Mans victories?

Can Peugeot win at Le Mans this year? In theory, yes – but in practice, experience might be the missing factor when racing against a history of seven Audi victories. However, the French manufacturer's 908 Hdi FAP has taken the advantage over its German rival's R10 TDI, and all is being done to ensure that trend continues.

When launching its Le Mans programme, Peugeot had been careful in not announcing a due date for its first victory; when facing Audi, a three-year period can be considered a minumum, and that brings us to 2009. Peugeot has not lost any time along the way, that can be said with certainty.

Despite a very short development period and the requirements of building up a team from practically nothing, the 908 took the honours from the very start (Monza 2007) and, to everyone's surprise, finished in second place at the conclusion of its first-ever Le Mans attempt. Even within Peugeot, they weren't expecting such great results.

Since then the 'Lion' has continued its progression to the point where, despite Audi's appearance in the Le Mans Series, the 908 remains unbeaten.

When evaluating pure peformance this year, the French car's advantage is clear: be it at Sebring, Barcelona, Monza or Spa, the 908 has shown itself untouchable in regular racing conditions. And if Audi made a move forward in Belgium, we can expect it will do so again at Le Mans.

Last year Peugeot's strategy was conservative, a plan which brought one of its cars across the finish line, but it was not enough to prevent Audi from winning. This year, the plan will be different, as explains Technical Director Bruno Famin: "We have taken the gamble that the race would be a 24-hour Grand Prix and that repairs would eliminate chances of victory. Therefore, from that point, we are betting on performance."

"We have applied small developments to the engine in order to augment its reliability to 2007 qualifying levels. Starting from that, the rest has to follow suit, especially the transmission," Famin explains. "Furthermore, we added hydraulics to the steering and gearbox controls. We also worked on making the car lighter in hopes of getting under 925kg and we scratched here and there in order to improve the aerodynamics, without forgetting the wheel bearings. "

The gearbox and the wheel bearings are the two identified weaknesses affecting the 908. We may add a third: the fragileness of the rear brakes following a collision and the impossibility to quickly change them.

At Silverstone in 2007 and at Barcelona this year, that proved costly to the Lamy-Sarrazin crew, and the first races this season have shown that the number of race incidents is higher than usual. Will Peugeot have enough time to adjust?

"We have new solutions in our portfolio, but if we win at Le Mans it will be because we did everything right timing-wise," states Bruno Famin. "I estimate our chances at 30% or 40% and Audi remains the favourite."

Experience will make the difference, not only in regards to preparation but also for pit stops and strategies – some things can't be learnt in two years! That is why the team is counting on continuity in its driver line-up.

Nicolas Minassian, Marc Gené and Jacques Villeneuve are returning as the crew for car N°7. Unlucky at Le Mans last year but victorious at Spa in 2008, the trio is energized and Peugeot is counting on them.

Monza winners Pedro Lamy and Stéphane Sarrazin will drive the N°8 car, with Alex Wurz joining them. Ironically enough, Wurz won the 1996 race during his first and only try so far – and that was with the rival team! Unfortunately, he collided with a Spyker and an Audi at Spa for his recent endurance return, ending his race.

This year, Peugeot will be fronting a third car as well, putting it on equal terms with Audi. It will be manned by Franck Montagny, Ricardo Zonta and Christian Klien, with the latter being the only Le Mans rookie amongst the nine Peugeot drivers. A talented crew indeed, but not as experienced as the other two.

Can the Peugeot team win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans? Certainly... if conditions are right!

Daniel BASTIEN © CAPSIS International
Source: François Hurel