24h Le Mans
24 HOURS CENTENARY – MAKES, MARQUES and IMPRINTS ⎮ Like Ferrari, Peugeot's return to the head class at Le Mans is highly anticipated at the Centenary on 10-11 June. Here's a look at three major moments in the history of the most victorious French constructor at the race (along with Matra with three wins each) ahead of the 9X8 Hypercar's first appearance on the track.
Peugeot's first appearance in the 24 Hours dates all the way back to the fourth running, in 1926, when the marque fielded two 174Ss for André Boillot/Louis Rigal (#2) and Christian Dauvergne/Louis Wagner (#3). The #2 was disqualified while in the lead with a damaged windscreen pillar dutifully noticed by technical stewards.
A decade later, the constructor achieved its first results at the race thanks to Emile Darl’mat. A Peugeot dealer since 1923 (the year of the first 24 Hours, you can't make this up!), he first made a name for himself by creating custom bodywork based on coupés and convertibles, mainly the 201, 301 and 601. Sold at a very competitive price to customers seeking originality, the cars even integrated the Peugeot line and the constructor authorised Darl'mat to produce a limited series coupé known as the 402 Spéciale Sport.
Charles de Cortanze, who later served as Assistant Race Director, convinced Darl’mat to field the car at Le Mans. Three cars took the start in 1937, all finishing in the overall top 10, with in order Marcel Contet/Jean Pujol (7th), Charles de Cortanze/Maurice Serre (8th) and Daniel Porthault/Louis Rigal (10th). The following year, only one of the three 402 Spéciale Sports in the race made it to the chequered flag, but with a sensational class win (5th overall) thanks de Charles de Cortanze/Marcel Contet.
Peugeot would not be seen again at Le Mans until 1991. The return matieralised thanks to Jean Todt who in 1981 took the helm of the marque's sporting activities and Peugeot Talbot Sport announced in autumn 1988 its intention to compete once again at the 24 Hours.
In 1991, the French manufacturer arrived at Le Mans with two Peugeot 905s, the posterchild for a new generation of prototypes, just as Group C regulations launched in 1982 were on their way out. The car was the work of engineer André de Cortanze, son of Charles, one of the initiators of the marque's 1937 and 1938 participations.
The two 905s proved incredibly fast and immediately popular with the public. Both cars were forced to retire before nightfall, but for Todt's team, it was all about gaining the experience necessary to win sooner rather than later. A done deal on 21 June 1992: after a long distance duel with Toyota, both 905s reached the podium thanks to winners Yannick Dalmas/Derek Warwick/Mark Blundell and third for Philippe Alliot/Mauro Baldi/Jean-Pierre Jabouille.
The following year, Geoff Brabham/Christophe Bouchut/Eric Hélary, Teo Fabi/Yannick Dalmas/Thierry Boutsen (2nd) and Alliot/Baldi/Jabouille achieved the first hat trick by a French marque since Lorraine Dietrich in 1926! On the back of this triumph, Todt left Peugeot to take the helm of Scuderia Ferrari before serving three terms as FIA president from 2009 to 2021.
Like Audi, who clinched the first win for a turbo diesel engine in 2006, Peugeot chose the technology for its return to Le Mans, but with an added feature: the particulate filter designed to retain particles contained in the combustion gases.
In 2007 and 2008, Peugeot's speed (two poles for Stéphane Sarrazin) faced off against Audi's experience (winner of the previous two runnings). In 2007, Sébastien Bourdais/Pédro Lamy/Stéphane Sarrazin secured a promising second place finish. The following year, the classification changed overnight when, after a magnificent ascent in the rain, the Audi R10 TDI of Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish got the better of the 908 HDi FAP of Marc Gené/Nicolas Minassian/Jacques Villeneuve. The latter trio finished second and the sister car of Pédro Lamy/Stéphane Sarrazin/Alex Wurz fifth.
The Peugeot 908 HDi FAP dominated in 2009 thanks to its quickness. After a third consecutive pole position for Sarrazin (a performance that only Jacky Ickx had achieved before him in 1981, 1982 and 1983), the three factory 908 HDi FAPs turned in a group finish under the chequered flag. Wurz clinched his second victory at Le Mans after his win as a rookie in 1996, Gené became the first Spanish driver to win the 24 Hours and Brabham matched his older brother Geoff who had triumphed 16 years earlier, with Peugeot on top of that. Second place finishers Bourdais, Lamy and Sarrazin completed a one-two for the marque with sixth place added thanks to Nicolas Minassian/Pédro Lamy/Christian Klien, delayed by a flat tyre early in the race.
Amazingly, in 2010 none of the four Peugeots (after Pescarolo Sport in 2009, a fourth car was entrusted to the ORECA team) crossed the finish line due to a rash of broken connecting rods. Thanks to Romain Dumas/Timo Bernhard/Mike Rockenfeller, Audi clinched its ninth win and set a new distance record at an average of more than 225 kph. The next year, Audi and Peugeot got makeovers with the R18 TDI (first closed prototype since the 1999 R8C) and the 908, respectively, for what is remembered as a legendary running of Le Mans.
Even before the stroke of midnight at the 79th 24 Hours, Audi had already lost two of its three cars following two accidents equally violent as they were miraculous after both Allan McNish and Mike Rockenfeller emerged unscathed.
On Sunday mornning at 07:00 began a chase between the surviving Audi of Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer and the Peugeot of Sébastien Bourdais/Pédro Lamy/Simon Pagenaud. During the eight hours remaining, they never let off the throttle. The gap was only 13 seconds under the chequered flag in favour of the #2 Audi followed by Pagenaud and the three other Peugeots entered (Stéphane Sarrazin/Franck Montagny/Nicolas Minassian, Anthony Davidson/Alex Wurz/Marc Gené and Nicolas Lapierre/Loïc Duval/Olivier Panis).
After shutting down the 908 programme in early 2012, Peugeot made its return to endurance racing 10 years later in the last three rounds of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship.
On display at the 24 Hours Museum last year, the 9X8 will make its debut in the Centenary running, succeeding the 905 and 908 HDi FAP. Will the Hypercar give three-time winner (and six-time pole-sitter) Peugeot a coveted fourth victory? Let's leave the final word to Jean-Marc Finot, head of competition activities for the Stellantis group over Peugeot, Fiat and Chrysler: "What ties together these three Peugeots is a laboratory for demonstrating know-how: very high speeds for the 905, diesel and particulate filter for the 908 and hybrid for the 9X8. In 1992 and 1993, I was an engineer at Sochaux and with friends I'd go listen to the 905's V10 at the Maison Blanche. To bring Peugeot back to Le Mans, we needed hybrid technology and affordable regulations corresponding to Peugeot's DNA. Now all the boxes are ticked and it is very unifying for the company. Peugeot is the second favourite marque in France. The pressure is on at all the testing sessions and races, and we will give our all at the Centenary as always!"
PHOTOS (Copyright - ACO Archives): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 1939-2009 24 HOURS OF LE MANS. From top to bottom: the chequered flag for the marque's third and final win to date in 2009; the 174S, first Peugeot seen at Le Mans, in 1926 (#3); André de Cortanze (leather headband, at the wheel) and teammate Marcel Contet in the #24 402 Spéciale Sport at the finish in 1938; the 905 for its first appearance in the 24 Hours in 1991 (#5) and first win for the marque in 1992 (#1); the 908 HDi FAP's win in 2009 (#9) matched Peugeot with Matra as winningest French constructors at Le Mans. (Copyright - Louis Monnier/ACO): a central focus of the Allure Le Mans exhibition at the 24 Hours Museum in 2022, the 9X8 will take the track this year for the Centenary.
