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LM24: Peugeot Dominates Le Mans
Written by: John Dagys   
06/15/2009
Le Mans (FRA)
 
After three years of trying and tens of millions of dollars spent developing the fearsome 908 HDi-FAP prototype, Peugeot returned to victory circle in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans after a sixteen year hiatus.

Peugeot crosses the start/finish line in formation after taking control of the twenty-four hour race from the first lap and never letting go. (Wouter Melissen/UltimateCarPage.com) » More Photos
 The French manufacturer dominated this year’s twice-around-the-clock marathon, with its diesel-powered LMP1 coupes leading the way from start to finish. David Brabham, Alexander Wurz and Marc Gene’s flawless performance was rewarded with the ultimate prize - victory at Le Mans - in a race that featured sheer disappointment for archival Audi.

For months, the story lines centered around the battle brewing between the two diesel giants of LMP1 - Audi and Peugeot. The German manufacturer held a stranglehold over Circuit de La Sarthe for the past decade, winning in eight of the last nine attempts and was poised to continue that success with its brand-new R15 TDI. But Peugeot, fed up after falling short on last year’s race due to numerous tactical errors, wasn’t going to settle for second once again, and it’s performance here today proved it.

From the onset, the “French Lions” drove away with the race. The all-French No. 8 crew of Stephane Sarrazin, Franck Montagny and Formula One Torro Rosso star Sebastien Bourdais led the opening six hours, settling a blazing pace along the way. However, the lead changed hands to the sister No. 9 car when the pole sitters lost 35 minutes in the pits replacing the left-rear driveshaft.

By this point, Peugeot’s third contender, the No. 7 of Nicolas Minassian, Pedro Lamy and Christian Klien, was already knocked out of contention after a costly pit lane error that saw the inbound Pescarolo Peugeot of Jean-Christophe Boullion collide with the departing Pedro Lamy. Lamy’s factory 908 suffered a left-rear tire puncture, shredding rear bodywork and damaging suspension components on his trip back to the pits, leading to a 30-minute repair job. It dropped the car seven laps behind.

As the the Nos. 7 and 8 Peugeots worked their back way up the leaderboard (No. 7 further delayed in the overnight hours for various repairs), Brabham, Wurz and Gene maintained a one, and sometimes, two-lap lead over the No. 1 Audi R15 TDI of Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen.

The defending race winners were Audi’s final bullet after a disastrous opening half of the race which saw its No. 3 machine of Alexandre Premat in the gravel bed ten minutes in and Lucas Luhr’s No. 2 car crashed out in the seventh hour. Premat’s Audi, which he shared with on-loan Porsche factory drivers Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, later suffered fuel injector issues, which led to an extensive rebuild of the V10 TDI powerplant and its components.

Audi had a troublesome race, with all three of its R15 TDIs suffering setbacks. (LAT) » More Photos
 But the No. 1 car wasn’t immune from engine-related problems either, as it battled similar overheating issues, making frequent trips to the garage to clean its intercooler and radiator ducts. By hour 21, an extended stay cost the trio four laps, and any hope of a debut victory for the R15 TDI.

Audi’s costly setback gave Peugeot clear sailing for the remaining two hours, as Gene and Bourdais took the 908s to a historic 1-2 finish in front of hundreds of thousands of local supporters.

"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,” explained Peugeot Sport Director Olivier Quesnel. “We were here as challengers, and our mission was to try to topple the favorites. 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.”

The win came 16 years after it’s last Le Mans crown when Christophe Bouchut, Eric Helary and Geoff Brabham drove a Peugeot 905 to overall victory in 1993. Ironically, 43-year-old David now joins his brother Geoff with achieving his first overall Le Mans victory in a Peugeot.

"It's such a great feeling to have won," said a beaming Brabham after the race. "Peugeot Sport did a tremendous job; they really did. It's a great team, they gave us a 100 percent reliable car and the three of us drove a faultless race.

"Our strategy was really to take care of the car; the tires, the brakes - particularly the front brakes which were wearing a bit more than we would have liked," Brabham added. "We just agreed to adjust our driving styles and keep within a consistent lap time target. We were running at a restricted pace
but other cars were having problems, so it worked out ok. We didn't make one mistake and that's what it takes to win this race."

Brabs now has three consecutive Le Mans wins to his credit, after his two class victories in an Aston Martin Racing DBR9. The veteran Australian knew heading in that this year’s race could be one of his final chances to claim the coveted overall victory, something that’s eluded him in his nearly two-decade long sportscar career.

Gene celebrated alongside Brabham as first-time overall winners, while Wurz notched his second. The tall Austrian became the youngest-ever winner in 1996 aboard a Joest TWR Porsche and now adds the 908 to his win list at La Sarthe.

"What made the difference? The fact that we kept it on the track without picking up any damage,” Wurz said. “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."

The Peugeots proved to be unstoppable in a straight line, especially when Audi’s two remaining R15 TDIs reverted to a slower engine map midway through the race to combat its overheating issues. Severe understeer, later corrected with new bodywork, also cost the German squad valuable time in opening hours.

"Obviously we are a little disappointed about the result,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “We didn’t manage to extract the full potential of the Audi R15 TDI in the race, which we had seen during testing. In addition, we had several technical problems that really caught us by surprise.”


Peugeot took a page from Audi’s game book, having a perfectly executed race strategy and near flawless pit stops, something we haven’t seen from the French manufacturer until now. It could be considered a coming of age for the third-year team in this highly competitive form of sportscar racing, or perhaps a strengthening of the guard with Citroen rally boss Quesnel now calling the shots. Either way, Peugeot showed it has the maturity needed to succeed in endurance racing.

Audi’s McNish, Capello and Kristensen came home third, completing 376 laps, six less than the winning No. 9 Peugeot. The No. 007 AMR Eastern Europe Lola Aston Martin finished three further laps back in fourth, an outstanding finish for Jan Charouz, Stefan Mucke and Tomas Enge after overcoming a qualifying accident on Thursday and staying relatively trouble-free all race.

The odds were stacked against them, but Charouz, Mucke and Enge finished the highest of the gasoline-powered LMP1 cars. (LAT) » More Photos
 The same couldn’t be said for AMR’s two other Lola-Aston Martins, though. Harold Primat escaped injury in a heavy crash at the Porsche Curves in the 20th hour - the same place where Luhr had his off. Primat and co-driver Peter Kox had done the lion’s share of driving up until that point, as Stuart Hall was excluded from further competition after sideswiping an LMP2 car. AMR’s third Gulf-liveried machine, the No. 008 of Anthony Davidson, Darren Turner and Jos Verstappen, suffered intermittent gearbox issues during the second half of the race, finishing 11th overall.

Team Oreca Matmut’s No. 11 Oreca 01 AIM entry of Olivier Panis, Nicolas Lapierre and Soheil Ayari came home fifth, ahead of the delayed No. 7 Peugeot in sixth.

Colin Kolles’ two privateer Audi R10 TDIs both finished inside the top-10 in what could be considered a surprise result. It was especially the case for the seventh-placed No. 14 car of Andre Lotterer and Charles Zwolsman, which was without the driving duties of Narain Karthikeyan, who dislocated his shoulder in a fall just hours before the start. The former F1 driver was not cleared to race by the ACO doctor.

All six of Kolles drivers were Le Mans rookies, not to mention Lotterer, who was already a late call-up. He didn’t get his first laps in the diesel-powered machine until Wednesday, making this result even more remarkable.

This year’s race also had its share of carnage. While Luhr and Primat both suffered high-speed accidents, they didn’t compare to Benoit Treluyer’s horrific crash in the 14th hour, which destroyed his Pescarolo Peugeot beyond recognition. Miraculously, the defending Super GT champion emerged uninjured, despite initial concerns. It could have been a lot worse, and we’re thankful for the safety mechanisms built into the closed-top 908.

Up until that point, Treluyer and co-drivers Boullion and Simon Pagenaud were running in fourth and ultimately could have had a shot at the podium if not for the race-ending accident. Both Pagenaud and Boullion impressed with their fast laps in the 2008-spec Peugeot.

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