Backstretch Motorsports

2009 becomes the year of the long waited victory for the #9 Peugeot 908 Hdi FAP and its drivers, all ex-Formula One drivers, David Brabham (whose brother Gary won with Peugeot 16 years ago), Marc Gené and Alexander Wurz (who won here in 1996 on his debut).

The French racing team Peugeot Sport located at Vélizy-Villacoublay is directed by Olivier Quesnel, with Bruno Famin as technical manager and Serge Saulnier as team manager. [read more...]

Corvettes Lead GT1 at Six-Hour Mark in Le Mans

Routine Race So Far for Corvette Racing; Safety Cars Play Key Role in First Quarter of Race

LE MANS, France, June 13, 2009 – A quartet of Corvettes took control of the GT1 class in the first six hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The No. 63 Compuware Corvette C6.R of Jan Magnussen, Johnny O’Connell, and Antonio Garcia has led from the start at 3 p.m., completing 88 laps at the six-hour mark. The No. 64 Compuware Corvette C6.R of Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta, and Marcel Fassler was second in the GT1 class, 2 minutes and 6 seconds behind its sister car. The No. 73 and No. 72 Corvette C6.Rs of Luc Alphand Aventures were third and fourth respectively with 86 laps completed. [read more...]

The diesels of Peugeot and Audi are sandbagging? David Brabahm has said that two of the three Peugeots are running track set-up the third depending on fuel-load tire wear set up.

The Aston Martin drivers like Jos Verstappen believes the leading diesels have not yet shown their true pace. [read more...]

Stéphane Sarrazin really wanted this pole position, probably more than Peugeot who were more focused on finding the best possible set up for the race itself. The crew of the #8 car, Frenchmen Sarrazin, Bourdais and Montagny, weren’t hiding their ambition tonight to win the race, having failed twice before. The rest of the Peugeot squad will be starting from third, fourth and fifth positions on the grid. [read more...]

Audi’s Allan McNish was the first prototype to set a meaningful time in the mostly track conditions, posting a 3:30.708. The green track, washed free of rubber after three days of a weather deluge, never had the chance to ‘rubber in’ before drops started to fall.

Tonight’s practice session started off on a dry track. The six hours of free practice gave us a good idea of what tomorrow’s qualifying sessions will look like, a fierce battle between Peugeot and Audi, with Pescarolo and Aston Martin taking their turn to go quickly.

About 20.00 the rain set in and the session became quieter Peugeot and Audi swapped first position, with Pescarolo playing their part and even setting the pace in the Peugeot 908 Hdi FAP. Some teams decided to play it safe, and focused on qualifying all of their drivers.

Peugeot, on the other hand, ran a real 6-hour race, with the three drivers of the #7 Peugeot 908 Hdi FAP putting in a amazing 79 laps, that’s 1076km. Grip conditions were sometimes very difficult, but they had no major problems.

Audi did however take over the top two positions, with Allan McNish lapping in 3:30.708 in the #1 R15, ahead of colleague Marco Werner in the #2 Audi.

Weather permitting, this lap time will most probably be improved on tomorrow. The #31 Porsche RS Spyder dominates its category more than 10 seconds in front of the QSM Portuguese Ginetta Zytek.

The official Corvettes will be affected by Antonio Garcia losing control but the job is done for the yellow and the black cars, they’re leading the LM GT1 category, dominating the #66 Jet Alliance DBR9.

The first LM GT2 is the #77 Porsche Felbermayer-Proton, before the 2008 category winner #82 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 and the astonishing Dutch #85 Snoras Spyker C8 Laviolette, this last car was surprisingly fast during the session. To resume, it was a rainy and wet testing session with some cars going off the track, such as the #39 KSM Lola Mazda Spyder which has been rebuilt and rejoined in the late evening.

The surprise fastest LM P1 non-diesel didn’t belong to one of the four Aston Martin-Lolas, but rather the Pescarolo-Judd of Barbosa/Tinseau/Jouanny. The freshened chassis not only looks purposeful, it’s capable of impressive speeds.

Controvery Denied

Peugeot lodged a protest this morning against the front bodywork design of the Audi R15 TDI on the eve of practice for the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The French squad claimed that elements of the front bodywork constitute illegal aerodynamic devices, and is calling for a rules clarification.

“It would indeed seem that two features of the Audi R15 - in the configuration in which it was shown at technical scrutineering for the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours on June 8 - do not comply with Article 3.6.2 of the current technical regulations: the flap which links the two front wings; the appendages fixed to the inner surface of the front wings,” said a Peugeot statement.

“These appendages and this flap effectively form part of the bodywork and their sole purpose is to generate downforce. These bodywork parts are considered to be aerodynamic elements. Since they do not appear on the list of aerodynamic elements authorised by Article 3.6.2, they are consequently not permitted.”

After the ACO denied Peugeot’s protest, the 908 team opted to file an appeal of that decision, sending out the following note in a release at 2:04 am:

TEAM PEUGEOT TOTAL APPEALS DECISION
Following the protest lodged by Team Peugeot Total, the Sporting Stewards of the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours have decided “not to uphold the protest”. The team was notified of this decision at 23.33 on Wednesday, June 10.

After reading the notification (“…the ACO has the discretionary power to deem whether or not the sole function of an element of bodywork is to generate downforce… …it is based on this discretionary power of appreciation, compounded by the exclusive power it has to interpret the technical regulations as laid out in Article 18, that the ACO homologates the cars which take part in the events covered by its regulations”), Team Peugeot Total, in compliance with the regulations, has decided to appeal the decision of the Sporting Stewards within the permitted timeframe of one hour following the publication of the said decision.

Audi’s only released statement was from the scrutineering process: “It’s fantastic that in spite of the terrible weather so many spectators attended the technical scrutineering, which traditionally opens the Le Mans week,” explained Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. “That our competitors were also interested in the R15 TDI is clear – after all they haven’t seen the car since Sebring.”

After its victorious début in March the diesel racing sportscar has been purposely optimized for the peculiarities of the extremely fast race track at Le Mans. “We had planned two aerodynamic configurations for the R15 TDI from the very beginning,” says Dr Ullrich. “A version for Sebring with maximum downforce, and one for Le Mans with greater emphasis on the aerodynamic efficiency. The basic concept is, however, exactly the same. The modifications which we undertook for Le Mans were already planned before Sebring.”

24 Hours of Le Mans Practice Speeds

Pos, Car #, Team, Time
1 1 Audi Sport Team Joest, 3′30.708
2 2 Audi North America 3′30.762
3 9 Peugeot Total 3′31.102
4 17 Pescarolo Sport 3′33.028
5 8 Peugeot Total 3′33.426
6 3 Audi Sport Team Joest 3′34.716
7 16 Pescarolo Sport 3′35.868
8 008 AMR Eastern Europe 3′35.996
9 007 Aston Martin Racing 3′36.732
10 7 Peugeot Total 3′37.980
11 009 Aston Martin Racing 3′38.490
12 11 Team Oreca Matmut AIM 3′44.474
13 14 Kolles 3′44.508
14 13 Speedy Racing Sebah 3′44.560
15 10 Team Oreca Matmut AIM 3′46.202
16 31 Team Essex 3′46.426
17 5 Navi Team Goh 3′48.096
18 15 Kolles 3′49.960
19 12 Signature Plus 3′52.858
20 4 Creation Autosportif 3′54.552
21 40 Quifel ASM Team 3′56.200
22 23 Strakka Racing 3′56.698
23 63 Corvette Racing 3′57.876
24 33 Speedy Racing Sebah 3′58.210
25 64 Corvette Racing 3′59.586
26 35 OAK Racing 4′00.428
27 25 RML 4′01.378
28 39 KSM 4′03.488
29 66 Jetalliance 4′06.606
30 77 Felbermayr Proton 4′08.304
31 82 Risi Competizione 4′10.980
32 85 Snoras Spyker 4′13.196
33 76 Imsa Matmut 4′14.340
34 92 JMW Motorsport 4′14.584
35 97 BMS Scuderia Italia 4′14.858
36 80 Flying Lizard Motorsports 4′15.254
37 78 AF Corse 4′16.846
38 89 Hankook-Farnbacher 4′17.098
39 30 Racing Box 4′18.870
40 87 Drayson Racing 4′23.262
41 41 G.A.C. Racing Team 4′23.788
42 75 Endurance Asia Team 4′24.420
43 6 Team LNT 4′24.700
44 99 JMB Racing 4′26.170
45 84 Team Modena 4′26.298
46 81 Advanced Engineering 4′26.514
47 96 Virgo Motorsport 4′26.784
48 26 Bruichladdich Bruneau 4′28.252
49 70 Imsa Matmut 4′29.856
50 24 OAK Racing 4′35.952
51 72 Alphand Aventures 4′38.342
52 73 Alphand Aventures 4′42.802
53 83 Risi Competizione 4′44.220
54 32 Team Barazi Epsilon 5′00.760
55 68 JLOC NO TIME

David Brabham, two-time Le Mans GT1 winner, is aiming for his third consecutive class victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours, 12-14 June 2009. Brabham makes his return to LMP1 at the 8.4 mile Circuit de la Sarthe for first time since 2003, presenting the opportunity to capture his first win in the category at the wheel of the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. [read more...]

Audi scored a debut victory for its new Audi R15 TDI as Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen teamed to win the 57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on Saturday night. McNish crossed the finish line 22.279 ahead of Peugeot’s Franck Montagny in an epic battle between sports car racing’s two diesel powers.

McNish took the lead at the 42-minute mark when Montagny made his final fuel-only stop. McNish clicked off fast lap after fast lap to build up enough of a gap to make a late splash for fuel with 14 minutes remaining and maintain his lead.

[read more...]

de Ferran Acura bests Audi, Peugeot in qualifying

SEBRING, Fla. — Scott Dixon put Acura into the Sebring record books Thursday with a stunning final-lap dash to win the overall pole position for Saturday’s 57th annual 12 Hours of Sebring.

Dixon, the defending Indy 500 and IndyCar Series champion, made his first Sebring race appearance quite notable by driving the all-new No. 66 de Ferran XM Radio Acura ARX-02a prototype sports car to the top position in Saturday’s grid over expected favorites Audi and Peugeot. It is the first time since 2005 that a manufacturer has captured both the LMP1 and LMP2 pole positions in the same event.

[read more...]

Peugeot’s Stephane Sarrazin set the fastest lap of the day at Sebring International Raceway on Wednesday, the first official day of practice for the 57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. The Frenchman toured the 3.7-mile, 17-turn circuit in 1:44.719 (127.198 mph) in the day’s second practice session.

Driving one of Peugeot’s diesel-powered 908 HDi factory coupes with Franck Montagny and Sebastien Bourdais, Sarrazin sat 0.214 seconds ahead of Audi Sport’s Tom Kristensen in the new R15 TDI, also a factory diesel entry. Kristensen is teaming with Allan McNish and Dindo Capello, and the same trio won last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

[read more...]

Peugeot confirmed today its two-car entry into the 57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida with a pair of diesel-powered 908 HDi factory prototypes for America’s greatest sports car race. This year’s event will mark the second consecutive trip to Sebring International Raceway for the exquisite coupes.

Monday’s announcement puts an even brighter spotlight on the front of the grid. The two 908s will go up against four brand new P1 entries - Acura’s two ARX-02a and a pair of Audi’s R15 TDI prototypes.

[read more...]