Le Mans 24 Hour - Peugeot win at Le Mans

Eurosport - Sun, 14 Jun 21:25:00 2009

The Peugeot of David Brabham, Alexander Wurz and Marc Gene won the Le Mans 24 hour race here on Sunday to record the French manufacturer's first victory in the competition since 1993.

SPORTS CAR 2009 Le Mans Peugeot Sarrazin - 0

The trio beat home another Peugeot driven by Franck Montagny, Stephane Sarrazin and F1 star Sebastien Bourdais while defending champions Rinaldo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish in an Audi were third.

It was Audi's first defeat in the race since 1999.

Brabham was delighted to have emulated his brother Geoff, who also won in a Peugeot in 1993.

"I am just happy to have won," said Brabham. "I recall my brother Geoff saying that he was the only Brabham to have won Le Mans and I am proud to have had the chance to do this.

"However, it is not a one man show and there are a lot of people at the heart of this team who are responsible for this victory."

Kristensen was generous in defeat.

"I believe that Peugeot have performed perfectly," said Kristensen.

"They deserved their victory and I have a lot of respect for them. We congratulate them from the bottom of our hearts.

"Of course we will try and learn from this and come back and win. However, we also have to recognise the work done by the Peugeot pilots, Alex, Marc et David. It is fantastic."

Peugeot had been in charge after seven hours of action on Saturday with the French team in three of the top four places.

Montagny, on pole position, enjoyed the best possible start in bright sunshine and team-mates Sarrazin and Bourdais stayed in front for almost six hours until their car suffered a transmission problem.

The car lost nine minutes as mechanics worked to change the left rear axle.

The second Audi with German driver Lucas Luhr at the wheel had to retire after a spectacular accident when it had been running in third place.

Luhr lost control of the Audi at the Porsche curve and crashed into the trackside barriers.

Le Mans 24hr results

1. David Brabham (Australia) / Marc Gene (Spain) / Alexander Wurz (Austria), Peugeot Sport Total (Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP), 382 laps

2. Sebastien Bourdais (France) / Franck Montagny (France) / Stephane Sarrazin (France), Team Peugeot Total (Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP), 381 laps

3. Tom Kristensen (Denmark) / Dindo Capello (Italy) / Allan McNish (Scotland), Audi Sport Team Joest (Audi R15 TDI), 376 laps

4. Jan Charouz (Czech Republic) / Tomas Enge (Czech Republic) / Stefan Muecke (Germany), AMR Eastern Europe (Lola-Aston Martin LMP1), 373 laps

5. Nicolas Lapierre (France) / Olivier Panis (France) / Soheil Ayari (France), Team Oreca Matmut-AIM (Courage-Oreca LC70 AIM), 370 laps

6. Nicolas Minassian (France) / Pedro Lamy (Portugal) / Christian Klien (Austria), Team Peugeot Total (Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP), 369 laps

7. Narain Karthikeyan (India) / Charles Zwolsman (Netherlands) / Andre Lotterer (Germany), Kolles (Audi R10), 369 laps

8. Bruce Jouanny (France) / Christophe Tinseau (France) / Joao Barbosa (Portugal), Pescarolo Sport (Pescarolo LMP1 Judd), 368 laps

9. Christijan Albers (Netherlands) / Christian Bakkerud (Denmark) / Giorgio Mondini (Italy), Kolles (Audi R10), 360 laps

10. Casper Elgaard (Denmark) / Kristian Poulsen (Denmark) / Emmanuel Collard (France), Team Essex (Porsche RS Spyder), 357 laps

AFP

Comment 10 - 29 of 29

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  1. Le Mans. This was my first time at the 24 hours ( i­ have been to the French Moto GP on the Bugatti Circuit­ before ) BUT i very much doubt it will be my last. What­ a superb spectacle, top class entertainment. A total­ contrast to the mess Max Mosley has created in Formula­ 1.

    From phil.robinson46, on Fri 19 Jun 6:42PM

  2. An awesome Audi R power- past years dominance - robbed­ off by 700HP plus Peugeot 908HDI!
    Audi R15 has not­ only lost in a straight line battled to Peugeot's ­ speed -but gone are those reliability too!
    Audi may­ need to match Peugeots power next year if it need to­ square things off!

    From zainal r, on Thu 18 Jun 1:54AM

  3. Too bad your posting didn't include the so-called­ lesser classes. They should have been given equal­ space. Their competition amongst themselves was at­ least as enjoyable to watch, especially GT2!

    Next­ year, my favorite car, the Corvette C6-R will be in­ GT2 and will probably be winning again since Aston­ Martin have already given up and gone to LMP-1. Too­ bad, we'll just have to fight it out with the­ Porsches and Ferraris. That alone will be a race worth­ watching.

    From larsonrc41, on Mon 15 Jun 11:28PM

  4. Oh Audi will be out for revenge next year, they will­ @#$% victory over Peugeot. Come on Allan Mcnish,­ practise before the 2010 one and you'll most­ certainly be winning that for sure.

    From Seb C, on Mon 15 Jun 9:31PM

  5. Well done Peugeot, Audi and Aston Martin :-) Normal­ service will be resumed next year :-) Vorsprung durch­ Technique as we like to say in Germany :-)

    From art_tidesco, on Mon 15 Jun 10:44AM

  6. Well done Peugeot and to Lola Aston Martin for being­ the best Petrol driven car. Can't wait for next­ year. And a final well done to Patrick Dempsey for­ finishing and for raising all that money for charity

    From Reefgirl, on Sun 14 Jun 9:29PM

  7. Well done to Peugeot on a great victory,and to Audi for­ keeping going despite all the problems encountered.But­ hats off to Dave Richards and all the Lola Aston boys­ for keeping the UK flag flying!So sad too to see the­ end of the Corvettes in GT1, one of my all time­ favourites for over 40 yrs of sportscar racing - how­ many of you recall the 7 litre Stingrays competing at­ Le Mans, Daytona,Sebring,etc,.....brings a tear to the­ eye!!

    From geoff, on Sun 14 Jun 8:58PM

  8. watched the coverage most of saturday and today and­ have got to say that it was very good. keep up the good­ work.
    silverback.

    From jbrownleestokes, on Sun 14 Jun 6:43PM

  9. Special thanks to all the Eurosport crew who did a­ fantastic job yet again. All the comintators &­ interviews were spot on, it was great coverage.

    Only­ thing that was wrong was the way we had to keep­ switching between the two stations, only a minor­ niggle, its the only thing I can think off to give out­ about . Well done all.

    From EndaC, on Sun 14 Jun 6:33PM

  10. Fantastic well done to Peugeot for trouncing Audi.Me­ and the family are def going next year to see what is­ classed as the best race of them all.

    From wizzo, on Sun 14 Jun 6:27PM

  11. Great race right up till the end, Audi have to go home­ & lick it wounds but no dout it will be back­ stronger next year.

    From EndaC, on Sun 14 Jun 6:25PM

  12. Patrick Dempsey.. Enchanted..

    From Din, on Sun 14 Jun 5:20PM

  13. #17, N Mansell's son is driving one of the­ Ferrari's

    From Reefgirl, on Sun 14 Jun 12:16PM

  14. Come on PEUGEOT you guys deserve to win! Audi have had­ too much of the cake for too many years now, it's­ time for the French to win their race again. Don't­ see Aston doing it, but hopefully coul get ahead of the­ Audi into third. The French and German teams are the­ heavyweights here and have -had- several machines in­ the battle for the lead.
    Didn't catch what team­ N.Mansell was connected to..

    From davidturner164, on Sun 14 Jun 12:03PM

  15. Come on PEUGEOT you guys deserve to win! Audi have had­ too much of the cake for too many years now, it's­ time for the French to win their race again. Don't­ see Aston doing it, but hopefully coul get ahead of the­ Audi into third. The French and German teams are the­ heavyweights here and have -had- several machines in­ the battle for the lead.
    Didn't catch what team­ N.Mansell was connected to..

    From davidturner164, on Sun 14 Jun 12:01PM

  16. Great Race. I am sorry that Eurosport is losing most­ sport coverage, but they still cover Le Mans. It was­ always on Eurosport. Great team of commentators. and­ the lovely blond repotting from pits. Keep it­ up!!!
    Peugeot had faster car last year but didn’t win,­ may be they will win today!

    From Dino, on Sun 14 Jun 11:05AM

  17. Patrick Dempsey's in Greys Anatomy

    From Reefgirl, on Sun 14 Jun 10:35AM

  18. Of course Manor got an entry - isnt Nick Worth Max­ Mosleys son inlaw (or something)

    From gfitzsim, on Sun 14 Jun 10:25AM

  19. Who is Patrick Dempsey? What films has he been in? ­ Viva Aston Martin

    From HispanoSuiza, on Sun 14 Jun 8:16AM

  20. Come on Aston Martin!!! go Aston! Go Aston! GO! GO!­ GO!!!!

    From child protector, on Sun 14 Jun 5:23AM
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