Montagny: “We won? Mini Le Mans”

Peugeot, at the start of the race, certainly did not imagine such a success. If the 908 HDi FAP started well from the first row, they were much less comfortable in the wet than the Audi R15 TDi. Bruno Famin, technical director of Peugeot Sport, explains this disappointing start to the race. “ After the delayed warm up, we only had five minutes to set up the cars, one, the #07 set up more for the rain and the #08 more for the dry. As intermediate tires are not authorized in the United States, we had to wait with “full wet” before moving directly to slicks. »

On a dry track and with tires for dry weather, the two 908 Hdi FAP were much faster. An observation that Bruno Famin welcomes. “UOnce the track dried out, the cars were very fast and we were able to double stints thanks to the consistency and performance of the tires. At the same time, we managed the safety cars very well to come back and overtake the Audis. »

For his part, Stéphane Sarrazin, member of the winning crew in Atlanta, also recognizes that the drying of the track, well before the flood, was beneficial to Peugeot. “ We started with little support which made my first stint very difficult. As soon as we were able to switch to slicks, we had qualifying pace. » The Frenchman, at the wheel of the No. 08 Peugeot, found himself behind the No. 07 for a long time, before a neutralization allowed Montagny/Sarrazin to take the lead, which reinforced Sarrazin's joy at the arrival. “ Finally a victory after multiple second places! »

Franck Montagny, disappointed not to have won pole on Friday, can be satisfied with having been able to reverse the trend during the race. However, “FKM” recognizes that victory does not have the same flavor when it comes after a race of 4h48 instead of 10 hours. “ We won the “mini Le Mans » ! It's a bit of a strange feeling but the decision to stop the race was the right one because the conditions were too dangerous. » Concerning the reasons for the victory, Montagny thinks that Peugeot knew how to do well. “ We had an excellent strategy and the car was very fast when we were finally able to pass the slicks. »

For Olivier Quesnel, the box is full. Director of Citroën Racing with whom he collected titles in WRC, the boss of Peugeot Sport is also getting used to success in Endurance. After the double in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans race, the Lion offers itself a new success against Audi. “ The results of this 2009 season are magnificent with the double at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, another double here, the victory at Spa and 2nd place at Sebring. » Attached to Rally, Olivier Quesnel does not forget to cite the performances achieved by Peugeot far from Atlanta? “ Without forgetting in Rally the hat-trick at Monte Carlo and the driver and constructor titles that we have just won in IRC with the participation of our subsidiaries. »

Concerning the race, Olivier Quesnel recognizes that gaining experience was the priority mission but that victory was also part of the plans. “ The objective was to make this race a work session while striving to win. The whole team worked very well and our drivers made no mistakes in these difficult conditions. We really went for this victory. »