Peugeot lead first major test

[Christopher]

From Autosport.......

Peugeot lead first major test

 Tuesday, March 27th 2007, 08:44 GMT


Peugeot set the pace at the Le Mans Series' official pre-season test at Paul Ricard, which marked the new 908 HDi-FAP's first public appearance.

Sebastien Bourdais was the quickest of the five drivers sharing the sole 908. The double Champ Car World Series champion lapped in 1:43.705 on the second day, beating nearest rivals Rollcentre by 0.3 seconds. Only a small oil leak on Monday disrupted Peugeot's progress.

Rollcentre showed great promise in their first test with their newly-acquired customer Pescarolo chassis, with team regular Joao Barbosa proving to be Bourdais' nearest rival.

The latest Lola chassis also proved competitive - the Charouz team setting the third quickest time of the test with a 1:44.348 lap, one-tenth quicker than Bob Berridge in the older Chamberlain-Synergy Lola, and two-tenths clear of reigning champions Pescarolo's updated car.

The Bruichladdich Radical team topped LMP2 on 1:46.160, closely followed by the Barazi Epsilon team's new Zytek 07S and the Spanish ASM Lola.

The GT1 class saw a one-two for ORECA Saleen, with Stephane Ortelli and Soheil Ayari 0.206 seconds quicker than their teammates Nicolas Prost, Nicolas Lapierre, Laurent Groppi and Jean-Philippe Belloc, who took advantage of the opportunity to run a 24-hour race simulation in preparation for Le Mans.

The lead Larbre Aston Martin and the two Alphand Aventures Corvettes were within half a second of ORECA's pace.

Richard Lietz put the IMSA Matmut Porsche on top in GT2, ahead of Allan Simonsen's Virgo Motorsport Ferrari, but third-placed Marc Lieb had been quickest on day one in his Felbermayr Porsche before having to leave the test because of clashing academic commitments.

[chop456]

The double Champ Car World Series champion

He's won the championship 3 times.  That goes to show how far the series has fallen when Autosport can't even get it right.   

[hgb]

Fantastic to see Rollcentre being that quick. 

[mgmark]

Fantastic to see Rollcentre being that quick. 

Indeed - Martin and his team deserve a good run this year!

MG Mark

[Christopher]

Further from Autosport.....


Reliability a concern for Peugeot

By Matt Beer Wednesday, March 28th 2007, 09:34 GMT

Peugeot admit that reliability is still a weak point on their new 908 HDi-FAP after the car's first public test at Paul Ricard earlier this week.

The new diesel-fuelled prototype coupe was fastest in the official Le Mans Series pre-season test and covered 174 laps (equivalent to a 1000km LMS race) during the two days, but the team were still unhappy that engine and electrical problems interrupted their running.

"We covered a fair amount of the planned programme, essentially during the second day," said the team's technical director Bruno Famin.

"An engine problem detected late Sunday afternoon deprived us of a chance to do some endurance and night-time running.

"However, we were back on the pace on Monday morning, which enabled us to cover a further 91 laps without any major trouble, with the exception of a minor electrical problem.

"Even so, a great deal of work still needs to be done on the reliability front."

Sebastien Bourdais rejoined Peugeot for the test after missing some of the recent private sessions to focus on his Champ Car World Series preparations. He was pleased with the 908's speed, but echoed Famin's concerns about reliability.

"Despite a few reliability-related problems, the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP has evolved since the last time I drove it," Bourdais said.

"There is still a long way to go though if we want to finish an event like the Le Mans 24 Hours."

The 908's next appearance will be when it makes its racing debut in the LMS opener at Monza on 15th April.

[termietermite]

Fantastic to see Rollcentre being that quick. 

Indeed - Martin and his team deserve a good run this year!

MG Mark

I had a bit of a chat with MS (like yer do!) on Sunday night and he was an extremely happy bunny.  Really delighted with the car. 
The Pug sounds pretty average by the way; if diesels are the future, it's going to be a pretty quiet one.