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Peugeot Reveals 908 Le Mans Car and Driver Line Up For 2007
12th January, 2007 | |||||
In 2007 Peugeot will return to the world’s racing circuits as part of the
Le Mans Series (LMS) with the Peugeot 908 and an experienced team of racing
drivers. This year will be the restart year for Peugeot Sport with two key Motor Sport
programmes. The first is the Peugeot 908 and the main race of the year will be the
Le Mans 24 Hours, a race that Peugeot has won twice already in 1992 and 1993. Peugeot will
be present in all the Le Mans Series (LMS) races and the Le Mans 24 Hours with
two cars. A team of six international drivers and one test driver has been recruited by Peugeot
Sport’s Team Manager, Serge Saulnier. Four drivers will contest all seven LMS
races, Nicolas Manassian, Stéphane Sarrazin, Pedro Lamy and Marc Géné. Two other
drivers will then strengthen the two teams for the Le Mans 24 Hours, Sebastien
Bourdais and ex-Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. Eric Hélary, winner
of the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1993 in the Peugeot 905, will take on the
responsibility of test driver and reserve driver for the team. The inclusion of Jacques Villeneuve will also provide a second challenge - for him
to become the first driver in the world to win the Formula 1 World Championship,
Champcar Championship, Indianapolis and the Le Mans 24 Hours. All drivers
will now start an exhaustive development programme which will include 15 races,
of which three simulate the Le Mans 24 Hours. The team will go to Sebring but
not for the race, only the test sessions. The first
races for the Peugeot 908 will be the LMS race at Monza 9italy) on 14th and
15th April, then Valencia (Spain) on 5th and 6th May.
These two races will be major tests for the 908 in order to amass as much
information as possible prior to Le Mans. The clock is
now ticking but, from a blank sheet of paper, Peugeot Sport has in one year and
three months developed the Peugeot 908 and recruited its driver team. The second
Motor Sport programme is based around the new Peugeot 207. Three
competition-based cars will be campaigned in 2007. The first is the 207 LW, an
entry level car which will be developed and raced in the French Peugeot Sport
race meetings, in the 207 Sprint Cup. The winner of the cup will, as their
prize, be given the wheel to the second 207 based competition car, the Spider
207. The Spider
207 will be raced in a single class race championship, the 207 Spider Cup. The
Cup will consist of eight races including, as a curtain raiser, all six rounds
of the Le Mans Series where it will support the Peugeot 908. The winner of the
207 Spider Cup will have the possibility of test driving the 908 for a day. The final
car is the 207 Super 2000 which conforms to the new Super 2000 regulations. It
is aimed at Peugeot subsidiaries, importers and private customers to campaign in
national and international championships, such as the intercontinental Rally
Challenge and the Production WRC in 2007. With two strong Motor Sport programmes the world’s motor sport arenas will
once again hear the roar of the Peugeot Lion. |
ABN 47106248033 |
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