Yesterday's announcement of Peugeot's immediate stoppage of its endurance programme was a real shock.
The board of Peugeot, located at 75 Grande Armée in Paris, took the decision to stop the company's involvement in endurance racing with immediate effect. According to the press release, the decision has been taken against the backdrop of the challenging economic environment in Europe.
The French car manufacturer also wants to concentrate its 2012 resources on its commercial performance and, in particular, ensuring the successful launches of several new models which will take forward the brand's strategy of moving upmarket and extending its global presence.
Auto123.com Thursday talked to a veteran of the Peugeot Sport race team.
“No one saw that one coming. Not at all. Yesterday, we got a message to gather all together at 4 p.m. And we were told the bad news,” he said.
One hour later, the official press release was posted on the web.
“This decision is quite hard to understand. Just after Christmas we restarted the manufacturing of parts process and we had just received the 2012 tubs. The test team was down in Sebring, Florida to do some testing when they got the news. Now, they're getting prepared to fly back here in Velizy,” our man told us.
“This week, we were deciding if we were going to enter three or four 908s at Le Mans, and how many of these cars would be hybrids. The news was a shock – a major blow on our heads. We will offered redeployment solutions within the company and internal mobility, but the worst part is that we will lose more than one hundred of very qualified and highly skilled persons. The situation is really dramatic for our younger mechanics and technicians. We're going to lose everything. If Peugeot ever wants to go back racing, they will have to build everything from scratch,” he added.
Our man confirmed us that Peugeot does not want to see the 908s being entered and raced by privateers. “No. Peugeot does not want to see a single 908 leave the factory. One private team has already offered Peugeot to race our cars, but it got a definite no as an answer. It's all over. Period.” he said.
Meanwhile, Gpupdate.net wrote Thursday morning that Craig Pollock and PURE are considering using Peugeot Sport's facilities located near Paris at 3 rue Marcel-Dassault in Vélizy to serve as a base for their F1 turbo engine programme.
However, this building is not only the home of Peugeot's endurance programme but also where the clients and rally departments are housed.
The board of Peugeot, located at 75 Grande Armée in Paris, took the decision to stop the company's involvement in endurance racing with immediate effect. According to the press release, the decision has been taken against the backdrop of the challenging economic environment in Europe.
The French car manufacturer also wants to concentrate its 2012 resources on its commercial performance and, in particular, ensuring the successful launches of several new models which will take forward the brand's strategy of moving upmarket and extending its global presence.
Auto123.com Thursday talked to a veteran of the Peugeot Sport race team.
“No one saw that one coming. Not at all. Yesterday, we got a message to gather all together at 4 p.m. And we were told the bad news,” he said.
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| (Photo: Peugeot) |
One hour later, the official press release was posted on the web.
“This decision is quite hard to understand. Just after Christmas we restarted the manufacturing of parts process and we had just received the 2012 tubs. The test team was down in Sebring, Florida to do some testing when they got the news. Now, they're getting prepared to fly back here in Velizy,” our man told us.
“This week, we were deciding if we were going to enter three or four 908s at Le Mans, and how many of these cars would be hybrids. The news was a shock – a major blow on our heads. We will offered redeployment solutions within the company and internal mobility, but the worst part is that we will lose more than one hundred of very qualified and highly skilled persons. The situation is really dramatic for our younger mechanics and technicians. We're going to lose everything. If Peugeot ever wants to go back racing, they will have to build everything from scratch,” he added.
Our man confirmed us that Peugeot does not want to see the 908s being entered and raced by privateers. “No. Peugeot does not want to see a single 908 leave the factory. One private team has already offered Peugeot to race our cars, but it got a definite no as an answer. It's all over. Period.” he said.
Meanwhile, Gpupdate.net wrote Thursday morning that Craig Pollock and PURE are considering using Peugeot Sport's facilities located near Paris at 3 rue Marcel-Dassault in Vélizy to serve as a base for their F1 turbo engine programme.
However, this building is not only the home of Peugeot's endurance programme but also where the clients and rally departments are housed.