Peugeot se lleva la victoria en los 1.000 km de Spa

Just a few weeks ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Peugeot recorded an encouraging one-two at Spa-Francorchamps, after an enthralling six-hour race. Alexander Wurz, Anthony Davidson and Marc Gené clinched the win in the No.7 car ahead of car No.8’s drivers, Franck Montagny, Stéphane Sarrazin and Nicolas Minassian, who had started back in 48th position on the grid. Team Peugeot Total thus took another giant step forward in its preparation for Le Mans.

With 34,600 spectators watching Saturday’s race at Spa-Francorchamps, the Peugeot 908s lined up well down the starting grid, but as soon as the race got underway, all three Team Peugeot Total cars showed they were not content to sit back. From 12th place, Alexander Wurz, in the Peugeot No.7, moved up to 3rd at the end of the first lap! Meanwhile, Sébastien Bourdais moved up to 4th spot in car No.9 and Franck Montagny, who started in 48th position, overtook an incredible 38 cars in one lap!



Alexander Wurz was flying as he grabbed second spot thirty minutes into the race. The Austrian then closed right up on the tail of race leader Lotterer in his Audi R18 and managed to get past him just before the first refuelling pit stop after a superb overtaking manoeuvre in traffic.

Things were going as well for his team-mates with Sébastien Bourdais, who handed over the No.9 Peugeot 908 to Pedro Lamy with the car in 4th position Meanwhile, Franck Montagny was lapping in a superb 5th place as he handed over to Stéphane Sarrazin.

The three Peugeots at the front
The race gradually took shape and the consistency of the Peugeots enabled the three 908s to hold the top three positions after 2.5 hours of racing, showing their competitiveness. Anthony Davidson, Pedro Lamy and Stéphane Sarrazin maintained an unrelentingly high tempo, thus widening the gap to their rivals.

The Peugeot 908 No.7 held onto first place until the next round of refuelling pit stops. Marc Gené, and then Alexander Wurz again, just kept on pushing right to the end of the six hours of racing, without experiencing any issues.

Behind them, the scrap for the remaining podium places was intense. Pedro Lamy was the only driver to complete three stints. The Portuguese driver made a costly error at the end of his stint, allowing the Peugeot No.8 to take second place. Simon Pagenaud took over from Lamy but had to come into the pits 30 minutes from the end to change the front right stub-axle. The driver team of Bourdais-Lamy-Pagenaud finished eighth, but also claimed the fastest race lap.


Fifth win at Spa-Francorchamps for Peugeot
After six hours of intensive racing, Team Peugeot Total secured an important one-two perfect preparation for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. So, for the fifth year running, a Peugeot wins the 1.000 Kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps. Alexander Wurz, Anthony Davidson and Marc Gené will go down in the record books as the first drivers to win a race in the new Peugeot 908. “What perfect timing for this, our fifth consecutive win at Spa, the first victory of the Peugeot 908 and our first win of the season in ILMC”, commented Olivier Quesnel, Director of Peugeot Sport. “Practice sessions and tests are there to test the cars and not necessarily to produce performances; the race itself is a more representative test. The race went just as we had planned. We were reliable and performed well, whilst also managing fuel consumption and tyre wear. We have won a round without being favourites, but we still have a huge mountain to climb.”

Thanks to this second one-two in ILMC, Peugeot has extended its lead in the Constructors’ standings. Team Peugeot Total has also moved to the top of the teams’ standings.

Fourth on the starting grid, Team Oreca-Matmut’s Peugeot 908 HDi FAP finished 10th with its driver team of Duval-Lapierre-Panis.

Quotes
Bruno Famin, Peugeot SportTechnical Director: “The test day at Le Mans in April was a real working session for us, we completed our programme without paying any attention to our rivals. It was the same thing here during free practice. Our aim for the Spa race was very much the same: prepare for Le Mans, but here there was also a race at stake. We had to get a good result. We weren’t sure whether we’d be able to go after the win, but we worked as hard as we could and the result came of its own accord, thanks to the fine performances of our drivers. This result is a boost for the confidence of the team, but our confidence is contained and reasoned, because the gaps are small. Le Mans will still be a difficult and complicated race.”

Alexander Wurz, Peugeot 908 No.7: “My first stint went very well. I quickly realised how well our car was performing. When I saw that we were the quickest on the track that really motivated me. Whilst also looking after my tyres, I put my rivals under pressure and managed to take the lead! From that point onwards, everything went perfectly. This is an important win in our preparations for the Le Mans 24 Hours.”

Anthony Davidson, Peugeot 908 No.7: “When I saw the pace set by Alex, I realised we had a car that could win the race. It was very comfortable to driver and this is a track that I really like. My engineer asked me to push 100%, which is what I did. We had a good strategy, and we didn’t have any issues at all. It’s very positive before Le Mans.”

Marc Gené, Peugeot 908 No.7: “The main thing we have learned from this race is that the Le Mans 24 Hours is going to be a very hotly contested race. It looks set to be the most open race in the last five years. This is a great result, but Spa is nothing like Le Mans. We showed, however, how good and reliable the car is today.”

Franck Montagny, Peugeot 908 No.8: “My stint was complicated because I had to overtake a lot of cars. I couldn’t drive at the same pace as the others due to the traffic and I used up the tyres quite a bit, so the balance was odd at the end of the stint.”

Stéphane Sarrazin, Peugeot 908 No.8: “I am pleased with my two stints. The balance of the car is good and constant. The safety car period lost us around forty seconds, but in the end, I pretty much made up the time lost on the track. We have made a lot of changes to the car throughout the week. This result means we head for Le Mans even more motivated than before.”

Nicolas Minassian, Peugeot 908 No.8: “We all had slightly different set-ups, but we managed to preserve our tyres very well. We have collected valuable information for the Le Mans 24 Hours. After complicated qualifying, we are back at the front again.”

Sébastien Bourdais, Peugeot 908 No.9: “We were expecting to be able to move up the field once the race got underway, but it was a pleasant surprise to see we were keeping pace with our main rivals. I started on soft tyres, so I had to be easy on them to complete two stints on the same set of tyres.”

Pedro Lamy, Peugeot 908 No.9: “There was a lot of traffic on the track, so when you have a clear lap, you take risks and push hard. That’s what I did, and I went off. It’s a shame because we were looking good for a one-two-three. This is a test race for Le Mans; we need to learn from our mistakes and take the positives from our experiences.”

Simon Pagenaud, Peugeot 908 No.9: “I gave my all to finish on the podium. It was looking good, but unfortunately, we had a small technical issue. It’s a shame as our car was really good, as proven by the fastest race lap we set at the end of the race. All of that is encouraging for Le Mans.”


Final standings for the 1.000 Kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps, 2nd round of the ILMC:
1. Peugeot 908 No.7, (Davidson, Gené, Wurz), 161 laps in 6 hrs 02’03’’799
2. Peugeot 908 No.8, (Sarrazin, Montagny, Minassian), + 42’’965
3. Audi R18 TDI, (Capello, McNish, Kristensen) +1 lap
4. Audi R18 TDI, (Dumas, Bernhard, Rockenfeller) +2 laps
5. Audi R18 TDI, (Fassler, Lotterer, Treluyer) +3 laps
6. Pescarolo Judd, (Collard, Tinseau, Jousse) +5 laps
7. Lola Toyota, (Jani, Prost) +5 laps
8. Peugeot 908 no.9, (Lamy, Bourdais, Pagenaud), +6 laps
9. Lola Toyota, (Belicchi, Boullion) +6 laps
10. Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Oreca, (Lapierre, Duval, Panis) +9 laps

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup standings:

Manufacturers:
1. Peugeot, 55 points
2. Audi, 38 points

Teams:
1. Team Peugeot Total, 27 points
2. Audi Sport Team Joest, 19 points
3. Team Oreca-Matmut, 18 points
4. Rebellion Racing, 12 points

| Peugeot

Tercera plaza del AUDI R18 TDI en Spa

Audi Sport Team Joest experienced a roller-coaster ride of emotions on the new Audi R18 TDI’s race debut at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium): After a perfect qualifying session and a great showing in the early phases of the race the three Audi R18 TDI cars occupied positions three, four and five.

At the beginning of the race the 34,600 spectators saw a strong performance of the new LMP1 sports car of AUDI AG. André Lotterer took the lead at the start and defended it almost up to his first pit stop. Timo Bernhard, who had started from pole, and Allan McNish (despite a spin on the first lap) were part of the action at the front of the field during the first hour as well and fought some thrilling duels with their rivals in heavy traffic.



However, a number of minor incidents, which in total had major effects, caused all three Audi R18 TDI cars to lose ground. André Lotterer, who had a clear lead in the early phase, had to be pushed backward at his first pit stop and lost valuable time in the process. His team-mate Benoît Tréluyer had to make an unscheduled stop after picking up an unusually large piece of rubber on his front left-hand tyre. Shortly afterwards the same problem occurred again, causing the Frenchman to slide into the gravel trap and lose two laps. Marcel Fässler subsequently complained about a car that was too demanding to drive - he, too, was struggling with rubber “pick-up”. In the end, the Audi R18 TDI designated as car number "2" finished fifth.

Timo Bernhard, who had started from pole position, suffered misfortune as well. The rear of his car was touched by another vehicle in the fast "Blanchimont" sector. The rear hood and the diffuser were damaged in the incident. Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller were subsequently struggling with handling difficulties in left- and right-hand turns. Like the other two Audi R18 TDI vehicles car number "1" had to make a brief refuelling stop shortly before the finish. With a two-lap gap Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller came fourth.

The first podium result for the new Audi R18 TDI was clinched by Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish who, like last year, took third place in the Le Mans "dress rehearsal" at Spa. While a spin by Allan McNish on the opening lap had no consequences as the Scotsman quickly made up ground at the front of the field from 16th place, Dindo Capello in his stint accidentally activated the speed limiter for the pit lane and thus lost 20 seconds. After adjusting the inflation pressure of the front tyres, Tom Kristensen was on the advance in the final phase: The Le Mans record winner was already setting his sights on the second-placed Peugeot when one hour before the finish, the left rear tyre was suddenly lost air which forced him to make an unscheduled pit stop. With a one-lap gap, Capello/Kristensen/McNish ultimately finished in third place.

Quotes after the race
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "Naturally, the result of the race at Spa is disappointing for us because the Audi R18 TDI was clearly beaten below its potential on its debut. We were on a par with Peugeot in terms of pure speed but there were simply too many small things that went wrong - unfortunately with all three cars. That was certainly frustrating. We’ll take home the positive findings of having a fast car that we’ll have to make better use of though. We’ve learned a lot today in racing conditions. Now we’ve got to put these findings into action before Le Mans."

Dindo Capello (Audi R18 TDI #3): "It was a difficult race for me. On my first stint I was really struggling with the car. The front didn’t have any bite at all. I had the feeling that there was way too little downforce or a lot of pick-up on the front tyres. It was strange that the car was suddenly feeling normal again towards the end of my second stint. That was a bit confusing."


Tom Kristensen (Audi R18 TDI #3): "That was an action-packed weekend. We had a few problems in the race at first. But the car kept getting better after we adjusted the tyre pressure. I was on the advance when I started suffering a slow puncture. Unfortunately, I had to drive a whole lap with this handicap but managed to bring the car to the pits safely. That wasn’t easy but (our engineer) Howden (Haynes) did a fantastic job and kept telling me the pressure levels over the radio. Still, the slow puncture destroyed our race because towards the end we had to make an additional pit stop to refuel. That I was ‘kissed’ by a GT vehicle just about at the same time I had the flat tyre almost made no difference."

Allan McNish (Audi R18 TDI #3): "A podium is always a good result, also with a view toward the championship. But to be honest: It’s a bit frustrating dropping to third place after starting from one, two and three on the grid due to minor problems. The Audi R18 TDI was competitive at its first race from the outset. It was a very close battle between us and Peugeot during some of the phases. Unfortunately, in the end it didn’t turn out in our favour."

Timo Bernhard (Audi R18 TDI #1): "That was a very tough race today. The positive thing about it is that we can take a lot of things with us with respect to Le Mans because it was a test in racing conditions. Our car was lacking a bit of racing luck today. That was a shame because in the beginning I was definitely in contention. I was running in second or third place the whole time, everything was good. But then an LMP2 unfortunately touched the rear of my car, which damaged the rear hood. Things like this can happen in a field of 55 cars."

Romain Dumas (Audi R18 TDI #1): "That was a pretty crazy day. We were strong throughout the weekend. Qualifying was great and we were running really well for the first hour and a half of the race. We had a fantastic battle with our main rival. Unfortunately, we lost ground due a lot of small things which made the difference in the end. The race at Spa didn’t go well for us. Last year it was similar here – but instead Le Mans was all the better."

Mike Rockenfeller (Audi R18 TDI #1): "We had pretty high expectations before the race. Timo (Bernhard) fought a great battle at the beginning. Up to the incident with the LMP things were looking really good. We changed the rear hood but decided against replacing the whole rear body part although the damage was more extensive. That made the car extremely difficult to drive for Romain (Dumas) and me. Actually, we were just rolling around. I still tried to save diesel fuel but that didn’t really work out either. The positive thing is that we’ve learned a lot. And we were competitive. If we eliminate the mistakes for Le Mans our prospects should be pretty good."

Marcel Fässler (Audi R18 TDI #2): "My car had oversteer. The aerodynamic balance had shifted somehow. The second stint in particular was difficult. I had three hairy moments, one in Blanchimont and two in Eau Rouge. That forced me to realize that it didn’t make any sense to continue to attack. In the end, I reduced my pace. There was no danger from behind and there was nothing I could do to push forward. For me, it was simply important to bring the car home."

André Lotterer (Audi R18 TDI #2): "The start was great. I had a good lead. Things were beginning to get more difficult when the tyres started becoming more slippery. That allowed the others to come closer again. The fight with the Peugeot was pretty nice. At the pit stop we lost some time because we had to push the car back. I was able to attack again afterwards and make up some ground to the Peugeot. But ‘Ben’ subsequently suffered a huge amount of misfortune with some really strange things. Twice he had an enormous amount of pick-up on his tyres. We’ve still got to get a handle on a large number of minor issues before Le Mans to be well set there."

Benoît Tréluyer (Audi R18 TDI #2): "The car was really good before we started having the pick-up problem. I had to make an unscheduled pit stop and shortly afterward it happened again. The pick-up was probably due to the fact that we had to overtake the GT cars off the racing line. I really don’t know though. We’ll find out and come up with a solution. The good thing is that the car is fast. I was almost always able to close the gap to the Peugeots when things were going normal. Naturally, it would have been nice to win thin this race. But our goal is Le Mans - we’ve got to continue to concentrate on that."

Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Team Joest): "We had higher expectations of this race but encountered a lot of strange problems: incidents of body contact, pick-up on the tyres and things like that. Mechanically, the cars held up. Still, we collected a long list for Le Mans today which we’ve got to check off. That was a championship round that we would have liked to have won. The Peugeots were quick and had no unusual issues. We’ve still got quite a few things to do."

Results
1 Gené/Wurz/Davidson (Peugeot) 161 laps in 6h 02m 03.799s
2 Montagny/Sarrazin/Minassian (Peugeot) + 42.965s
3 Capello/Kristensen/McNish (Audi R18 TDI) - 1 lap
4 Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller (Audi R18 TDI) - 2 laps
5 Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer (Audi R18 TDI) - 3 laps
6 Collard/Tinseau/Jousse (Pescarolo-Judd) - 5 laps
7 Jani/Prost (Lola-Toyota) - 5 laps
8 Lamy/Bourdais/Pagenaud (Peugeot) - 6 laps
9 Belicchi/Boullion (Lola-Toyota) - 6 laps
10 Lapierre/Duval/Panis (Peugeot) - 9 laps

| Audi