Le Mans Series

Team Peugeot Total Nürburgring 1000km preview

© Planetlemans - Marcel ten Caat

With barely a week for the team to catch its breath after its resounding second place in the recent Le Mans 24 Hours, Peugeot Sport returns to the Le Mans Series trail for the 1,000km race at the Nürburgring, Germany.

The significant work put in by the team over the past 18 months has already paid dividends and has also been rewarded by two 1,000km-race wins, with the two LMS crews sharing the laurels: Marc Gene/Nicolas Minassian at Monza and Stéphane Sarrazin/Pedro Lamy at Valencia.
The combination of endurance simulation work at Le Castellet, France, and bench testing has enabled Peugeot Sport to make a big leap forward in terms of reliability, although significant ground still needs to be covered to enable it to target a win in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Peugeot Sport’s Technical Director Bruno Famin explains the reason for the N°7 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP’s retirement at Le Mans and also why the N°8 sister lost time shortly before the finish…"There were in fact two distinct problems. The engine of the N°7 car failed and we are still examining it to find out exactly why. In the case of the N°8 sister car, it was the oil pressure that fell, but we succeeded in stemming that."

Saturday evening saw the N°8 908 delayed by wheel-bearing failures. Has it been possible to cure this problem in the short time available before travelling out to the next LMS race? "This problem still hasn’t been completely resolved, but that doesn’t stop us from being totally confident going into the next race."

The Peugeot 908 HDi FAP is a very competitive package, which it has shown by qualifying on pole position for every one of the three races it has contested to date. Are there plans to make any modifications to the 908, in terms of either its engine or aerodynamics? "Work on the car has been ongoing ever since it first took to the track. Even though the priority has always been reliability, we have constantly sought to adapt it both mechanically and aerodynamically to the different circuits at which it has competed."

Peugeot Sport has never tested at the Nürburgring. Is that a handicap compared with the teams that have already run there? "Yes, of course it is. We will have to try and extrapolate as much data as we can from the few races the car has already contested, especially Valencia. The practice sessions are quite short, so we are hoping that we will be spared any problems that could shorten the time we have to optimise the set-up."

Pedro Lamy: I know the Nürburgring well because I have raced there quite often, notably in the German F3 Championship. One season, I took eleven wins and also won the German title in the days when the championship used to visit the Nürburgring on a very regular basis. I also know the 22km Nordschleife circuit pretty well, too, after wins there with a Dodge Viper and a BMW. It’s a circuit I really enjoy and I will give it my best shot to win there again, this time with the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP.

_{(credit: Team Peugeot Total)}