This is Peugeot's new “superdiesel”, its all-new 908 endurance racing car for 2011.
The new car was originally given the code name 90X but the 908 HDi was so successful - it won the 2007 Le Mans Series, took a 1-2 victory at Le Mans in 2009 and won the inaugural International Le Mans Cup series in 2010 - that marketing director Xavier Peugeot decided to keep the same name for the new car.
“At the same time, the new car fits perfectly with the brand's new, modern image,” said Peugeot. “We've always tried to associate our commitment to motorsport with the real world and our model range.”
The 908 is built to the new 2011 technical regulations, including the mandatory “shark fin” engine cover. It has a closed cockpit and the same size wheels front and rear, and a new, 3.7-litre V8 HDi turbodiesel for which Peugeot quotes 405kW.
Design work on the new car started immediately after the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours - although Peugeot Sport technical director Bruno Famin admitted that designing an all-new car while racing the old one created its own challenges.
“The regulations have changed a lot,” he said, “but our experience over the past four seasons helped in the decision-making process - even though the only component that's been carried over is the windscreen wiper!
“We knew from previous testing that there's not much difference between open and closed cockpit cars in terms of aerodynamic performance, but they provide additional safety for the driver despite the added constraints they bring when working on them at races, so we decided to stay with the closed cockpit.
“We opted for a turbocharged V8 diesel engine but with very similar characteristics to the previous V12. The angle of the V, however, is 90 degrees compared with 100 degrees in the V12 to improve engine balance. We ran the engine for the first time on the dyno on January 25, 2010.
“Today's Le Mans series cars have problems with front wheel-grip; the logical answer was to increase the size of the contact patch, which meant running bigger front wheels - the same size as at the rear - with a lot of help from Michelin.
“The 2011 regulations have reduced power by about 110kW, so we had to take a fresh look at the trade-off between downforce, drag and aerodynamics - and significantly reduce downforce to retain a reasonably high top speed,” Famin said.
The new car made its track debut, on schedule, in July 2010. Its handling was excellent straight out of the box but the all-new drivetrain had some gremlins.
Famin said: “We knew we would have problem, given that this was an all-new car, but we resolved them one by one as we got more kilometres on the clock. Between the car's track debut in 2010 and the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours, we will have completed 12 tests at a number of different circuits.”
The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup has grown from three rounds in 2010 to a seven-round championship in 2011, including two races in the US (at Sebring and Road Atlanta), three in Europe (Spa-Francorchamps, Imola and Silverstone) and one in China, plus the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Peugeot Sport director Oliver Quesnel said: “We won all three rounds of the 2010 series but for 2011 we are especially targeting Le Mans. Incorporating this legendary event into the championship puts the spotlight on endurance racing, which is where automakers showcase their technology in extreme conditions.
“So we've entered two cars for each round except Spa-Francorchamps, where we will run three cars as a full-scale dress rehearsal for the Le Mans 24 Hours.”
DRIVER LINE-UP:
Car 7: Alexander Wurz / Anthony Davidson / Marc Gené
Car 8: Franck Montagny / Nicolas Minassian / Stéphane Sarrazin
Car 9: Sébastien Bourdais / Pedro Lamy / Simon Pagenaud