The first one-two finish for the Peugeot 908 HDI FAP

Peugeot claimed its first one-two finish at the Nürburgring yesterday with victory going to the No 8 car driven by Pedro Lamy and Stéphane Sarrazin.

On Saturday Marc Gene secured the third consecutive LMS pole for the No 7 Peugeot 908 HDI FAP, just 3/10th of a second quicker than Pedro Lamy in the No 8 sister car.

Nicolas Minassian started the race in the No 7 car from pole-position ahead of the 908 driven by Stéphane Sarrazin. The two Peugeots maintained their one-two positions until after the first pit stops when Minassian was forced to make an unscheduled stop, to top up the engine oil. Shortly afterwards, the No 7 car was called into the pits again for a “stop and go” penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag. This dropped the car down to third position.

After the second pit stop and the first driver change, Marc Gene passed the second placed car putting the No 7 car back into second, where it remained to the end of the race.

On lap 129, it was the No 8 lead car driven by Pedro Lamy which was called into the pits this time for a “stop and go” penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag.

Both 908 HDi FAPs completed the rest of the race without incident to secure the marque’s first one-two finish in the Le Mans Series. The first one-two finish for the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP

Stéphane Sarrazin: “At the start of the race, I was a little faster than Nicolas on soft tyres and we decided to pit before him. I pushed hard and was able to pass him before my second stop. After that, we didn’t have any problems all the way to the flag.”

Pedro Lamy: “Apart from a stop and go for overtaking under yellow flags which I didn’t see, it was a trouble-free race for me.”

Nicolas Minassian: “This car is incredibly quick. The chassis is fantastic and I would like to congratulate the technical team who gave us such a competitive car for this race.”

Marc Gene: “I had a slight problem with the steering wheel gearshift paddles. The steering wheel was changed during our second stop and we didn’t have any other problems after that.”

The Peugeot 908 HDi FAPs will be in action again at the Spa 1,000 km in Belgium on 18-19 August, when they will be aiming to maintain their winning ways. They will then be in action in the UK at the Silverstone 1,000 km on 15-16 September.