Peugeot 2010 endurance racing: targeting another win at Sebring.

Sports Car Racing News

Riding high on the back of last year's one-two finish, Peugeot Sport is aiming to do it again in 2010. In the fourth and final year of the 908 HDi FAP's career, Team Peugeot Total has pressed on with its development, getting down to work on the very next day after that historic win, striving to squeeze even more improvements out of the car.

Test sessions and races at a variety of venues have been programmed in order to be as well prepared as possible for the 78th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, Which race has always throws up unique challenges, uncertainties and changes of fortune, all part of Its legendary status. But even the most meticulous preparations can hope to reproduce the specific features and surprises this race invariably delivers. Since its historic success on June 14, 2009, Peugeot will have racked up a total of eleven test sessions consisting of endurance runs, set-up work Demanding and two warm-ups in the form of two actual races.

Eleven drivers have been chosen to fly the flag Peugeot, running with race numbers 1, 2 and 3, the numbers Which were previously the property of the make's much respected rival. The 2009 winners will carry the Number 1 plate: Marc GENE (ESP) Alexander Wurz (AUT), plus a newcomer to the ranks Peugeot Sport, Anthony Davidson (GBR). Marc and Alexander Tackling will be their fourth Le Mans, the Austrian having won twice, in 1996 and 2009. Anthony has contested the French race twice (2002 and 2009) and tested the 908 in a session at Le Castellet at the end of 2008. In the No. 2 908 HDi FAP, three French drivers Nicolas Minassian, Franck Montagny and Stéphane Sarrazin, Reform the trio that previously raced together for Oreca in 2002 and again in a memorable race last November at Le Mans, in the 207 relay relay race Which formed part of the season's final Rencontres Peugeot Sport meeting. It's worth noting that Stéphane has taken pole position for the last three years at Le Mans in the 908 HDi FAP. The third crew is made up of local boy Sebastien Bourdais, Who renews his partnership with his United States-based countryman Simon Pagenaud and Portugal's Pedro Lamy. Sebastian and Pedro Had also been Le Mans team-mates back in 2007, at the wheel of the No. 8 Peugeot. Christian Klien will be the reserve driver for Team Peugeot Total, while Gregory GUILVERT, Having impressed at a test in the 908 (his prize for winning the 2009 THP Spider Cup) takes on the role of test driver.

On the racing front, Peugeot's first test comes in the shape of the full-on challenge of dealing with 12 hours of racing against the heat and difficult track at Sebring (Florida, USA), which provides the backdrop for the year's first appearance of the Two Peugeot 908 HDi FAPS, shared by Davidson / Gene / Wurz (No. 07) and Bourdais / Lamy / Minassian (N ° 08). The French squad will tackle a first test session the previous weekend and then resume testing two days after the endurance race. The second event is at Spa-Francorchamps in a round of the Le Mans Series and this will serve as a dress-rehearsal for the whole Peugeot Sport team, with three cars entered. Eleven test sessions and two races should see enable the team to prepare thoroughly for the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours.