Autoblog UK

Although they were naturally nerve-wracking for everyone at Team Peugeot, the final three hours of the 2009 Le Mans Hours passed off with a hitch for the French squad, and the two frontrunning Peugeot 908s went on to collect an emphatic one-two finish. The winning machine (N°9, Gené/Wurz/Brabham) finished seven laps clear of the best-placed non-Peugeot runner at the flag (Audi N°1), with the N°8 sister car (Sarrazin/Montagny/Bourdais) following it across the line to claim second spot. The N°7 car (Minassian/Lamy/Klien) completed the distance in sixth spot despite a spate of problems in the early hours of the morning.

As every year, the end of the race was marked by a number of accidents, and the N°5 Porsche's off prompted the safety car to be sent out one last time at 1.46pm. The N°7 and N°9 Peugeots profited from the neutralisation to pit for fuel. The safety car peeled off at 2.20pm and the three Peugeots made one last stop before the chequered flag. Sébastien Bourdais slowed on purpose to enable the three Peugeot 908 HDi FAPs to cross the line in formation. One-Two-Victory for Peugeot!



Eleven starts, eleven times in succession on the winner's podium: Audi continued its impressive series of podium results in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After taking three consecutive victories Audi had to settle for third position on this occasion in probably the world's toughest endurance race.

"Obviously we are a little disappointed about the result", said Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "Peugeot produced a fantastic performance and certainly deserved the victory. We will analyze the problems we had to ensure we come back stronger next year." The race to Le Mans 2010 has just begun.