Peugeot explains Le Mans failure

Peugeot, for the fourth consecutive participation of its Peugeot 908 HDi FAP during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, hoped to confirm its double achieved in 2009. Instead, the French manufacturer's team left full of doubts, following the quadruple retirement of the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. Broadly speaking, the reasons for these abandonments were already known: breakage of the suspension attachment on the hull for 908 No. 3, engine failure for the other three. Bruno Famin, technical director of Peugeot Sport, analyzes these problems in detail.

« First of all, on the 908 HDi FAP n°3 which was forced to retire after 2 hours 30 minutes of racing, we identified a manufacturing quality problem with the hull at the level of the lower suspension wishbone attachment. Before right, explains Bruno Famin. This hull, which notably won the 24 2009 Hours of Le Mans and the 1000 Spa 2010 km, was? like all 908 chassis? regularly checked in our workshops using sophisticated means which allow us to detect aging or carbon damage. This is a completely undetectable defect which caused the premature and sudden rupture of the binding. »

« As for the engines, we very quickly had confirmation that all three had suffered from the same problem: a broken connecting rod, but on different cylinders. In-depth investigations have just revealed that the particularly severe conditions encountered at Le Mans this year generated a fatal overload of our V12. »

The Le Mans race, renowned for its difficult conditions, would therefore have provided a harmful playing field for the Peugeot 908 and its powertrain. “ Indeed, the track had a lot of grip overall. The full load rate was therefore higher than expected. Furthermore, the ambient temperature remained cool and, unlike in previous years, the air/air exchangers did not become clogged. The filling, and therefore the engine performance, remained high throughout the race. »

If all the cars were confronted with these conditions, the youth of the incriminated part could explain the triple engine failure. “ Certainly these conditions were the same for all the competitors but this year we used new connecting rods which we had tested at length on the engine bench and during numerous simulations on the track. »

Bruno Famin also believes that the absence of problems with the Peugeot 908 in recent months has not allowed the team to imagine such a scenario. “ Throughout these sessions we did not experience a single breakdown, which did not allow us to realize that we were in fact much closer to the limit than we imagined. The conditions encountered pushed us to the wrong side. »

The technical director believes that Peugeot will have to review its validation process in order to avoid such mishaps again. “ After three participations at Le Mans, we thought we had relevant specifications. It has been proven that this was not the case and that even with increasing experience, it is difficult to master everything. The conditions encountered during the 24 Hours of Le Mans change every year and so do the mechanical constraints. It is clear that we need to strengthen our validation process »