Peugeot 908

Peugeot Sport
Industry	Motorsport
Founded	2011
Products	Peugeot 908 (race car)

The Peugeot 908 is a diesel-fueled race car engineered by Peugeot Sport in 2011, specifically designed for the Le Mans Prototype (LMP1) class. It followed the well-regarded Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, which had been active since 2007. The 908 is equipped with a compact twin-turbo V8 diesel engine featuring Honeywell turbochargers, developed to comply with the updated regulations introduced in 2011.

Although it delivered approximately 150 bhp less than its predecessor, the vehicle gained superior maneuverability thanks to enhancements in chassis design and handling characteristics. A significant change was that the front tires were made as wide as the rear ones, unlike the previous model. The sole part retained from the earlier version was the windshield wiper.

Throughout the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, including the prominent 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Peugeot 908 participated in every event, achieving six victories out of seven races. This performance secured both the team and manufacturer titles for that season.

2011

Known internally as project 90X, the 908 was unveiled in February 2011. Its first competitive appearance took place at the 2011 Sebring 12 Hours, where it faced competition from the older Audi R15 TDI and the Oreca-run Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. Initially, both Peugeot cars led, extending their lead over Audi by roughly two seconds per lap; however, safety car interventions diminished their advantage. A suspension issue caused by Marc Gené's incident, combined with a slow pit stop and a spin by Lamy, resulted in Peugeot finishing third and eighth.

At the 2011 1000 km of Spa, three Peugeot 908s competed against Audi’s new R18 as well as older models. Despite a disappointing qualifying session that placed only one Peugeot inside the top ten, the team quickly advanced to leading positions during the race. Following technical problems that affected several R18s, Peugeots occupied first through third places until a suspension failure forced one car into a lengthy nine-minute pit stop, dropping it to eighth place. That same vehicle recorded the fastest lap with a time of 2:03.699.

During Le Mans, three Peugeot 908 entries battled closely with Audi for supremacy. Thanks to fewer pit stops, Peugeot managed to stay on the same lap as the leader but ultimately finished just thirteen seconds behind Audi’s winning car.

2012

For the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship, Peugeot intended to introduce a hybrid version called the Peugeot 908 Hybrid4 alongside an updated conventional model. Nevertheless, following disappointing financial results in 2011, Peugeot canceled its entire 2012 racing campaign despite having already conducted testing at Sebring—delivering a major blow to Peugeot Sport Total.

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup

(key) Entries in bold denote pole position, while those in italics indicate fastest lap.

Year	Entrant	Class	No	Results							Championship
Year	Entrant	Class	No	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pts.	Pos.
2011	Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Team Peugeot Total	LMP1		SEB	SPA	LMS	IMO	SIL	ATL	ZHU	113	1st
			7	1	1	2	1	1	1	1
			8	3	2	3	2	8	2	2

24 Hours of Le Mans

Year	Team	Car Number	Drivers	Category	Completed Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2011	Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Peugeot Sport Total	7	Template:Country data GBR Template:Namespace detect showall Anthony Davidson Template:Country data AUT Template:Namespace detect showall Alexander Wurz Template:Country data ESP Template:Namespace detect showall Marc Gené	LMP1	351	4th	4th
		8	Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Stéphane Sarrazin Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Franck Montagny Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Nicolas Minassian	LMP1	353	3rd	3rd
	Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Team Peugeot Total	9	Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Sébastien Bourdais Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall Simon Pagenaud Template:Country data POR Template:Namespace detect showall Pedro Lamy	LMP1	355	2nd	2nd

External links