Peugeot Sport are already looking to 2011 for revenge on Audi after failing to make it to the chequered flag at this years 24 Hours of Le Mans.
After Qualifying strong and taking their fourth pole position in a row the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP dominated the two front rows.
Leading from the start of the race the first casulty would be the #3 car of Sébastien Bourdais, Pedro Lamy and Simon Pagenaud after a broken monocoque suspension mounting eliminated the car.
The #1 car of Anthony Davidson, Marc Gené and Alexander Wurz would face a tough pit stop as the night drew due to a failing starter motor-alternator-management system.
As #1 headed in to the pits, the #2 car of Nicolas Minassian, Franck Montagny and Stéphane Sarrazin pushed on in to the lead, holding on comfortably until the early hours of Sunday morning brough an engine issue putting them out of the race.
With two cars out the focus turned back to the #1 car which failed two hours from the end of the race with a broken engine.
The customer Oreca would also suffer the same fate as the #1 car with Bruno Famin, Technical Director of Peugeot Sport declaring, “Since its debut, the 908 HDi FAP has never before had such engine problems,”
Olivier Quesnel, Director of Peugeot Sport remained positive: “We started at a quick pace in the face of a very strong adversary. We were faster than them, but we weren't as reliable. What counts is the final victory, not the top speed. We have had four consecutive 'doubles', and you know that can't go on forever. Unfortunately our luck turned here. But we did everything we had to, to win.”
He would continue to reveal the French marque is already looking to 2011, “We will analyse what went wrong. We have the right to be disappointed, but we will get to work, to come back even stronger in 2011. We did what we could, but we were beaten. Peugeot have human values, our continued presence doesn't depend on sporting results. We have the support of all the major decision makers to push as hard as possible. We showed daring and we showed our values. It is a huge disappointment but we have an easy conscience.”
He added: “Now we must make sure it doesn't happen again. We lost the return match today, but we will play the decider next year.”
