Motorsport

Lion confident as R10 slips up

Peugeot has drawn first blood in the 2007 clash of the sportscar titans, which is set to culminate at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June

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Diesel 908 warmed up for Le Mans with a win at Monza

By Jonathan Gill

20th April 2007

The team’s brand new racers dominated the opening 1,000km round of the European Le Mans Series at Monza in Italy. But on the other side of the Atlantic, Audi’s R10 TDI lost its 13-month unbeaten record.

Peugeot’s exciting new 908 HDi turbodiesel coupé took a dominant victory on its international debut. One of the cars lost time with a faulty door catch, but its sister, shared by Ferrari Formula One test driver Marc Gene and sportscar regular Nicolas Minassian, romped home to score a brilliant maiden win.

The second car of Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy roared through the field to finish in third. French pairing Emmanuel Collard and Jean Christophe Bouillon split the Peugeots with their Pescarolo Judd.

Meanwhile, Audi was out of luck competing on the streets of downtown Long Beach, California. The tight circuit – once the home of the US Grand Prix – didn’t suit the two big 5.5-litre, V12 R10s, which were outmanoeuvred by lighter, smaller-engined rivals. Porsches finished first, second and third, with Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas leading the way. British ace Andy Wallace was third. The best Audi came home in seventh, with Scotland’s Allan McNish at the wheel.

“Agility isn’t one of the R10’s strengths, so we are always going to struggle on temporary tracks such as this,” admitted McNish. “The R10 is designed for the long straights and fast corners of Le Mans, rather than tight hairpins and roundabouts.”

The first time Peugeot and Audi will go head-to-head is at the famous French enduro on 16-17 June.