Peugeot breaks Audi Le Mans stronghold

Yesterday (June 14th, 2009), Peugeot won the epic 24-hours of Le Mans in style, finishing 1-2 ahead of the third-placed Audi and in the process putting to an end Audi's dominance of the sport in recent years.

The 2009 race was Peugeot's third attempt with a diesel racer, though the company has triumphed in the past at the La Sarthe circuit, with wins in both 1992 and 1993.

This year's honours went to the number nine car driven by Marc Gené, Alex Wurz and David Brabham with 382 laps covering 3,235 miles. The second-placed Peugeot was only a lap behind, with the quickest Audi six laps back due to a technical issue late in the race.

Peugeot Sport Director, Olivier Quesnel, said: "Before the start, I used a French cycling analogy to describe the crew of the N°8 car 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 favourites. 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."

Behind the diesel-powered top three, Aston Martin came home in fourth place in the '007'-numbered Lola LMP1 car.

Good news for fans of the endurance classic is that Audi will be back next year to fight for its honour according to Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi AG: "We know how difficult it is to win Le Mans. Also Peugeot, who we congratulate on this well deserved victory, needed three attempts. I trust our technicians implicitly as well as the entire team and I am convinced that we will strike back next year. We are fully committed to this race. Audi will leave no stone unturned in its quest to reclaim the Le Mans winner's trophy in 2010."

Shane O' Donoghue