Peugeot 908 HDI FAP winner 24 Hours Le Mans 2009

On occasion of the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Team Peugeot Total secured its first victory in the prestigious endurance race with the diesel powered 908 HDI FAP which contested the French endurance classic for the first time two years ago in 2007. This result also takes the firm's Le Mans score to three wins following its previous triumphs in 1992 and 1993. The Peugeot squad monopolized the top two places overall in this year's contest. And, with the exception of a short instant early in the race on Saturday afternoon, it led from flag to flag; initially with the N°8 car of Sarrazin/Montagny/Bourdais, then with the N°9 car (Cené/Wurtz/Brabham) which inherited top spot just ahead of the five hour mark, before going on to defend its advantage until the finish. The N°7 car (Minassian/Lamy/Klein) rounded off Peugeot's week end by completing this year's thrilling Le Mans clash in sixth spot after collecting a series of minor setbacks during the night.

Olivier Quesnel, Peugeot Sport Director commented: "Before the start, I used a French cycling analogy to describe the crew of the N+8 as 'sprinters', the N°7 crew as 'road sprinters' and the N°9 drivers as 'warriors'. Today, it was the 'warriors' who won. I really sense that the public and Automobiles Peugeot wanted this result. We faced a huge challenge and we succeeded in rising to it. 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. I am so proud of all the people who were involved in this project. This win is Peugeot Sport's win."

The N°9 Peugeot 908 HDI FAP distinctly international line-up of Spaniard Marc Gené, Australian David Brabham and Austrian driver Alexander Wurtz owed their victory to a trouble-free run which saw them take over at the top when the other two Peugeot 908 HDI FAP were delayed during the first quarter of the race. After that, the experienced trio focused on driving as quickly and as consistently as possible in order to push home their advantage and force their rivals to do all the chasing.

Bruno Famin, Technical Director of Peugeot Sport commented:" We did not have any technical problems this week end; just a few racing incidents which upset certain game plans. The Peugeot 908 HDI FAP has demonstrated its reliability by winning against Audi which has been an invincible force here for practically a decade. This is the result of not just one but four years 'hard effort".

Paul Damiens - Photos Peugeot

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