H+22: Peugeot Sport lowers the flag

Peugeot Sport will not see the arrival of 24 Hours of Le Mans. The curtain has fallen on the boxes of the three official 908 HDi FAP. The last in the race, the No. 1 of Alexander Wurz, retired before the 22-hour mark due to an engine problem. Like No. 2, and the origin is perhaps the same. A cursed race for Peugeot, which saw its 908s let go one after the other. No. 2 was the only survivor at daybreak, before having to stop due to engine failure. The 908 No. 1, then third, represented the last hopes of the Lion firm.

After an Anthony Davidson festival, Alex Wurz took over, managing to get back to the second Audi R15 TDI. But, like the No. 2, the No. 1 from Wurz was a victim of its propeller. Curtain. The three official cars stopped. The four 908s affected by extremely rare problems. Bad luck?

« No, it's not bad luck, explains Bruno Famin. The problems are real and they are our fault. The bad luck part is that they affected all the cars. Last year we had problems but they focused on certain cars. There, that spared no one. This is where the luck factor comes into play. But the problems themselves have nothing to do with luck. »

For his part, Olivier Quesnel, with misty eyes, was strongly affected by this triple failure. “ We had too many problems, we didn't work well enough. But frankly? We will be there next year and we will be even stronger. We were coming off four consecutive doubles and, there, everything fell on us at the same time. Sorry, we couldn't get to the end. »

But, even in these difficult times, the Peugeot Sport team does not fall apart. Even the drivers of the No. 3 Peugeot, who had to retire after 2 hours and 20 minutes of racing, stayed until the end to support their teammates. “ We would prefer to be united in victory, explains Franck Montagny. We stayed because we knew the qualities of the 908, we knew that it was there and that it was going to do it. It's a little twist of fate. »

« This is an overall negative assessment, concludes Bruno Famin. Only the result counts and, despite our level of performance, we were unable to make it happen. So it’s a failure. We didn't expect it, we weren't prepared for it because our private tests always went well. I have a lot of regrets. This is a failure for me. It is a questioning of everything that has been done so far. »