The final year for the HDi FAP in 2010 - March 14th 2010

Unveiling of the new Peugeot HDi FAP for 2010

As ever Peugeot are focusing on the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2010 and have put together three formidable teams in their strive to repeat their victory of 2009. Nicolas Minassian will team up with Franck Montagny and Stéphane Sarrazin in the number 2 car, three frenchmen with vast experience at the La Sarthe track and who raced together in 2002 for Oreca.

Test sessions and races at a variety of venues have been programmed in order to be as well prepared as possible for the 78th running of Le Mans, a race which always throws up unique challenges, uncertainties and changes of fortune, all part of its legendary status. But even the most meticulous preparations can hope to reproduce the specific features and surprises this race invariably delivers. Since its historic success on June 14, 2009, Peugeot will have racked up a total of eleven test sessions consisting of endurance runs, set-up work and two demanding warm-ups in the form of two actual races. Eleven drivers have been chosen to fly the Peugeot flag, including one reserve and one test driver, running with race numbers 1, 2 and 3, the numbers which were previously the property of the make's much respected rival, Audi.

Driver line up for 2010

On the racing front, Peugeot’s first test comes in the shape of the full-on challenge of dealing with 12 hours of racing against the heat and difficult track at Sebring (Florida, USA), which provides the backdrop for the year's first appearance of the two Peugeot 908 HDi FAPs, shared by Davidson/Gene/Wurz (N°07) and Bourdais/Lamy/Minassian (N°08). The French squad will first tackle a test session the previous weekend and then resume testing two days after the endurance race. The second event is at Spa-Francorchamps in a round of the Le Mans Series and this will serve as a dress-rehearsal for the whole Peugeot Sport team, with three cars entered. Eleven test sessions and two races should enable the team to prepare thoroughly for the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours.

A busy second half of the season in 2010 Peugeot Sport is also working on life after Le Mans and, at the moment, there are two further races on the calendar for the 908 HDi FAP: the Le Mans Series round at Silverstone in England, in September, then – assuming it is confirmed by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest – the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup race in Shanghai, China. For Peugeot Sport, the second half of the year is also the time to look to the future, specifically the immediate future and the new 2011 regulations, which signal the start of a new era for endurance racing. Some of the new rules have already been a announced, which means work can now begin a new car.