Le Mans Champions plan new car for 2011

Peugeot is unlikely to contest the new Le Mans Intercontinental Cup despite arch-rival Audi Sport’s decision to do so, preferring instead to focus its time and resource on building a new LMP1 prototype for the 2011 regulations.

But while Peugeot will not officially confirm its plans until February, Peugeot Sport boss Olivier Quesnel has said that Peugeot was unlikely to have a factory presence in 2010 after the 24 Heures du Mans (though Oreca will be running the ‘fourth Peugeot 908′ in a full Le Mans Series campaign).

“The board has given me a budget with two objectives: to do our best with the current car at Le Mans and to build a new car for 2011,” said Quesnel.

“The Intercontinental Cup is a good idea, but we can’t do everything.

Quesnel also confirmed that Sebastien Loeb is to get two more tests in Peugeot’s 908 HDi FAP before the French manufacturer decides whether to field the World Rally Champion in one its cars in this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours race.

Loeb has already driven the car at Mugello and Aragorn, and while Peugeot is happy with his performance, the Frenchman still feels he needs more time in the car.

“We were happy with what he did,” said Quesnel, “but Seb told me he did not feel he was up to speed.”

This entry was posted on Friday, January 1st, 2010 at 4:52 pm and is filed under Motorsport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.