From Peugeot Sport
In 2009 Peugeot finished 1-2 at the 24 Heures du Mans. Last weekend, Peugeot was up against a redoubtable adversary, Audi. The decider will be played next year, promised Olivier Quesnel, Director of Peugeot Sport.
Buoyed up by their four consecutive 1-2 finishes and the work undertaken over the last year, Team Peugeot Total arrived serene, fit and determined to take up the challenge of the 2010 24 Heures du Mans.
Saturday at 3 pm the four Peugeot 908s, headed by the No 3, led for the first three hours. A broken monocoque suspension mounting point eliminated the car of Sébastien Bourdais, Pedro Lamy and Simon Pagenaud at 5:28 pm.
The three remaining Peugeots took their place at the head of the race. But the No 1 car of Anthony Davidson, Marc Gené and Alexander Wurz was held up at nightfall with the replacement of a starter motor-alternator-management system, leaving the No 2 car of Nicolas Minassian, Franck Montagny and Stéphane Sarrazin to lead for the majority of the race. Early in the morning a broken engine put them out of the race.
Team Peugeot Total put their hopes in car No 1, but two hours before the finish the last works Peugeot also retired with a broken engine. Finally, the Peugeot Oreca retired for the same reason during the last hour, after having posted the fastest race lap time.
“We started at a quick pace in the face of a very strong rival,” said Olivier Quesnel, Director of Peugeot Sport.
“We were faster than them, but we weren’t as reliable. What counts is the final victory, not the top speed. We have had four consecutive ‘doubles’, and you know that can’t go on forever. Unfortunately our luck turned here. But we did everything we had to, to win. Tomorrow we will analysis what went wrong.”
He added: “We have the right to be disappointed this evening, but tomorrow morning we will get to work, to come back even stronger in 2011. We did what we could, but we were beaten. It is a huge disappointment but we have an easy conscience. The sanction has fallen; it is hard, but certainly justified. Now we must make sure it doesn’t happen again. We lost the return match today, but we will play the decider next year”
In 2009 Peugeot finished 1-2 at the 24 Heures du Mans. Last weekend, Peugeot was up against a redoubtable adversary, Audi. The decider will be played next year, promised Olivier Quesnel, Director of Peugeot Sport.
Buoyed up by their four consecutive 1-2 finishes and the work undertaken over the last year, Team Peugeot Total arrived serene, fit and determined to take up the challenge of the 2010 24 Heures du Mans.
Saturday at 3 pm the four Peugeot 908s, headed by the No 3, led for the first three hours. A broken monocoque suspension mounting point eliminated the car of Sébastien Bourdais, Pedro Lamy and Simon Pagenaud at 5:28 pm.
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| Photo: Peugeot Sport |
The three remaining Peugeots took their place at the head of the race. But the No 1 car of Anthony Davidson, Marc Gené and Alexander Wurz was held up at nightfall with the replacement of a starter motor-alternator-management system, leaving the No 2 car of Nicolas Minassian, Franck Montagny and Stéphane Sarrazin to lead for the majority of the race. Early in the morning a broken engine put them out of the race.
Team Peugeot Total put their hopes in car No 1, but two hours before the finish the last works Peugeot also retired with a broken engine. Finally, the Peugeot Oreca retired for the same reason during the last hour, after having posted the fastest race lap time.
“We started at a quick pace in the face of a very strong rival,” said Olivier Quesnel, Director of Peugeot Sport.
“We were faster than them, but we weren’t as reliable. What counts is the final victory, not the top speed. We have had four consecutive ‘doubles’, and you know that can’t go on forever. Unfortunately our luck turned here. But we did everything we had to, to win. Tomorrow we will analysis what went wrong.”
He added: “We have the right to be disappointed this evening, but tomorrow morning we will get to work, to come back even stronger in 2011. We did what we could, but we were beaten. It is a huge disappointment but we have an easy conscience. The sanction has fallen; it is hard, but certainly justified. Now we must make sure it doesn’t happen again. We lost the return match today, but we will play the decider next year”