The Peugeot took the checkered flag at the 24 hours of Le Mans, easily outdistancing its closest competitor.

VELIZY, France — It’s not like the Peugeot brand has not been in the winner’s circle before — but the team’s victory at the 24 hours of Le Mans in June has to be one of the most satisfying victories for the French Lion in many years, considering what the team has had to endure over the last three years.

It came to Le Mans in 2007 and pulled of a miraculous third place finish; But in 2008 with easily the fastest car in the event (it turned laps in competition faster than its chief rival Audi did in qualifying) it was bushwacked by more teething problems and a rain storm that served the advantage back to the Ingolstadt Army.

This year at the prestigous 12 Hours of Sebring, the team led late in the race only to have the new Audi R-15 snooker them in the last 30 minutes of the race for the win.

But all of the heartache of the previous three years was washed away at  Circuit de la Sarthe when the team finished first overall and had a second and sixth place finish as well.

We caught up with Olivier Presnell the head of Peugeot Sport to get his take on the state of the Peugeot program after the sterling victory. Here is what he had to say about the win and the future of Peugeot and endurance racing:

The No. 9 Peugeot was victorious at the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.

TRT: It would seem that both the 2008 race and also this year’s Sebring event produced disheartening results for the Peugeot. How were you able to keep the team’s focus on the ultimate prize in light of the losses?

Olivier Quesnel: If  the 2008 Le Mans race was a big disappointing result for the team with such a competitive car, 2009 Sebring was only considered as a perfect training for the team in order to prepare men and machines for Le Mans 2009.

The champagne flowed freely on the victory stand after the Peugeot claimed the overall trophy.

 TRT: Sebring was a very dramatic win for your competition, but did you learn anything about your car and about the compeition that gave you confidence that you could come to Le Mans be victorious this year? If so what were the things that you took from Sebring that gave you and the team the confidence that victory was possible for Peugeot.

 Olivier Quesnel: First of all, the 908 showed it was still competitive against the new Audi R15 on a very specific circuit. We knew our car would fit much better on a faster circuit like Le Mans. After Sebring we have limited our race programme to Spa in order to prepare Le Mans by doing 70.000 km of endurance simulations on different circuits, mainly on Castellet circuit. We tried our best to solve all the problems we encountered last year, for instance the dirtying of the radiators which cost our team significant time in the pits as we were forced to stop to clean them.

On its way to victory, the No. 9 Peugeot speeds up the Dunlop Hill.

TRT: After Peugeot’s qualifying performance, did your strategy for the 24 Hours of Le Mans change at all. It was a pretty dominating display of speed by the Peugeot team?

Olivier Quesnel: In fact, we did not know the level of performance of the Audi before Le Mans because we never met the R15 after Sebring. We imagined they had worked hard to develop the car and we were quite sure that it would be slightly quicker than ours. So we were pleasantly surprised to see we were still quicker. 

The No. 9 Peugeot performed flawlessly during its winning run at the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.

TRT:

Olivier Quesnel: Yes, as the pre-tests were cancelled, we were happy to confirm that our car was much more comfortable in the rain than last year. We did a lot of tests with Michelin who developed new very good tyres, for rain, medium and slicks. And we also worked hard since last year on the traction control which is now very efficient.

There is no new Peugeot chassis planned for the team in 2010.

TRT:

Olivier Quesnel: Yes as the regulation will be completely new in 2011, we will keep the same car in 2010 with all the improvements that we will be able to do.

Victory in the 24 hours of Le Mans belonged to Peugeot in 2009.

Olivier Quesnel get a congratulatory handshake from Audi boss Wolfgang Ullrich.

 Olivier Quesnel: We have very good relationship with the Audi Team. They came to our party after the race, late on Sunday to share our joy. Last year they invited all the team to their party as well.

Despite the down turn in the economy and in particular the automotive industry, the budget for the Peugeot is sufficient to keep them in victory lane.

TRT: How has the current malaise that the economy and the automotive industry is going through  affected the racing program at Peugeot. Will it mean less racing for the Peugeot and less R &D?

 Olivier Quesnel: Our budget is has tightened but it is sufficient to do our programme. It does not affect our R&D programme.

Team Peugeot will make a victory tour in the US, attending the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in September.

 TRT: Is there a chance for a “victory tour” in the states with perhaps participation in the last two events of the ALMS?

 Olivier Quesnel: We are still waiting for the Board decision but we could go to Petit Le Mans in September. (Editor’s Note: Since this interview the Peugeot team has confirmed that it will attend at least the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in September.)