Peugeot Sport
Encyclopedia
Peugeot Sport is the department of French
carmaker Peugeot
responsible for motorsport
activities.
Peugeot Sport was formed in 1981 under the name of Peugeot Talbot Sport, after Jean Todt
, a World Rally Championship
co-driver for Talbot
driver Guy Fréquelin
, was asked by Peugeot to create a sporting department for the PSA Peugeot Citroën
group. The team debuted its Group B
Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 in 1984, and took its first victory in Finland in the hands of Ari Vatanen
. In 1985, Peugeot drivers Vatanen and Timo Salonen
won seven out of the 12 rounds to give Peugeot the manufacturers' title and Salonen the drivers' title. Vatanen had been seriously injured in an accident in Argentina in 1985, so was replaced by Juha Kankkunen
for 1986, who promptly delivered the team a second consecutive title. The FIA banned Group B cars for the 1987 season after the fatal accident of Henri Toivonen
. This lead Peugeot to switch to rally raid
, using the 205 to win the Dakar Rally
for three consecutive years from 1987 to 1989, and then used the 405
to win in 1990.
, France and in 1988 launched the 905
project, to develop a sportscar to begin competing in the 1991 season. The 905 was introduced in 1990, and finished second in the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season
. In 1992, Peugeot Talbot Sport won the 24 Hours of Le Mans
, with drivers Derek Warwick
, Yannick Dalmas
and Mark Blundell
. They also won the World Sportscar Championship
, thanks to Warwick, Dalmas, Philippe Alliot
and Mauro Baldi
. The championship did not run in 1993, but Peugeot were able to take a 1-2-3 finish at the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans
, with Eric Hélary
, Christophe Bouchut
and Geoff Brabham
driving the winning car. Peugeot Talbot Sport subsequently pulled out of sportscar racing. Jean Todt, meanwhile, left Peugeot for Scuderia Ferrari
.
for , using the same 3.5L V10 engine used in the 905. This was easily adapted to be used by McLaren
in 1994. However, poor results led to the relationship ending at the end of 1994. This led to Peugeot supplying Jordan Grand Prix
in and and , before supplying the new Prost Grand Prix
team for the , and seasons. The Peugeot engines were bought by Asiatech
at the end of 2000 and used for two further years.
In 1999, Peugeot Sport returned to the World Rally Championship with the Peugeot 206 WRC
, under the guidance of director Corrado Provera. The car debuted at the Tour de Corse
, with François Delecour
driving one car and Gilles Panizzi
and Marcus Grönholm
sharing the second car over the remaining events. Grönholm finished fourth on the car’s third event, Rally Finland
, before Panizzi finished second on Rallye Sanremo
.
In 2000, Grönholm gave the car its first victory at Rally Sweden, and followed this up with wins in New Zealand, Finland and Australia on his way to the Drivers’ championship. Panizzi won in Corsica and Sanremo, giving Peugeot the Manufacturers’ championship.
In 2001, Didier Auriol
joined the team, replacing Delecour as the main driver alongside Grönholm. Panizzi and Harri Rovanperä
also drove additional cars for the team on selected events. Rovanperä won round two in Sweden, as Grönholm struggled with retirements during the first half of the year. Auriol won in Spain, Grönholm won in Finland, Australia and Great Britain, and Panizzi won in Italy. The team retained their manufacturers’ crown, even though Grönholm was the best placed driver in the drivers’ standings, in fourth place. Rovanperä was fifth, Auriol eighth and Panizzi ninth.
For 2002, the team signed Richard Burns
, the 2001 champion, from Subaru, replacing Auriol in the team. Grönholm won round two in Sweden, before Panizzi took back-to-back wins in France and Spain. Grönholm won the next event in Cyprus, before he and Burns were disqualified for a technical infringement in Argentina. Grönholm won again in Finland, while Panizzi won his third event of the year in Italy. Grönholm completed back-to-back victories in New Zealand and Australia to take his second drivers’ title. Burns finished the season fifth, ahead of Panizzi and Rovanperä in sixth and seventh. Peugeot were able to take a third consecutive Manufacturers’ title.
The driver lineup remained the same for 2003, with Marlboro joining as title sponsor. Grönholm won in Sweden yet again, and took another two wins in New Zealand and Argentina. Panizzi picked up another win in Spain. Poised to rejoin Subaru in 2004, Burns was ruled out of action ahead of the final round of the season in Great Britain, having suffered a blackout while driving to the event. He was replaced for the event and the 2004 season by Belgian Freddy Loix
. Burns finished the season fourth in the standings, ahead of Grönholm in sixth. Peugeot lost its manufacturers crown to Citroën
.
Peugeot introduced a new car for the 2004 season, the 307 WRC, which was based upon the coupé cabriolets version of the 307 road car. Having originally not been part of the team at the start of the season, Rovanperä replaced Loix after two rounds in the team’s second car alongside Grönholm, who struggled with the new car initially. He took the team’s only victory of the season in Finland, and he finished fifth in the standings at the end of the season. Peugeot finished fourth in the manufacturers’ standings.
For 2005, Peugeot signed Markko Märtin
from Ford to partner Grönholm. Once again, it took until Grönholm won Rally Finland yet again in August for the team to win. Two rallies later, in Great Britain, Märtin’s co-driver Michael Park
was killed after the pair’s 307 WRC left the road. Märtin subsequently pulled out of the World Rally Championship. Daniel Carlsson and Nicolas Bernardi both filled in for him during the final four events. Grönholm took a second win of the season in Japan, on his way to third in the standings. Peugeot finished second in the manufacturers’ standings. At the end of 2005, PSA Peugeot Citroën withdrew its two teams from the WRC. Citroën took a year out to develop a new car and returned in 2007, but Peugeot did not return to the WRC.
Peugeot Sport created the Peugeot 207 S2000
, a rally car built to Super 2000
regulations. Peugeot Sport enter the cars, run by Kronos Racing
, in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge
(IRC). Peugeot drivers Enrique García-Ojeda, Nicolas Vouilloz
and Kris Meeke
won the IRC drivers' title in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively.
Under the guidance of new director Michel Barge, Peugeot Sport returned to sportscar racing for 2007, taking on the dominant Audi
with the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. The car made its debut at the 2007 1000km of Monza
, the opening round of the 2007 Le Mans Series season
. The pairing of Marc Gené
and Nicolas Minassian
took the car to victory. At the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans
, Stéphane Sarrazin
took pole position for the team ahead of the Audis. In the race, the #8 car of Sarrazin, Pedro Lamy
and Sébastien Bourdais
finished second behind the #1 Audi. After Le Mans, Sarrazin and Lamy took the Le Mans Series title for Peugeot.
At the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans
, Peugeot and Sarrazin once again took pole position, locking out the first three places on the grid. In the race, the trio of cars finished in second, third and fifth. In the Le Mans Series, Peugeot lost out to Audi again, Minassian and Gené finishing in second place.
At the beginning of 2009, PSA Peugeot Citroën made Citroën Sport director Olivier Quesnel the director of Peugeot Sport too. At the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans
, Sarrazin set his third consecutive pole position for the team. In the race, the team delivered its first Le Mans victory since 1993, with the trio of David Brabham
, Gené and Alexander Wurz
winning ahead of the car driven by Franck Montagny
, Bourdais and Sarrazin. The team’s third car finished the race in sixth position. The team only contested one round of the Le Mans Series season, at Spa as preparation for Le Mans itself.
Peugeot scored a 1-2 finish at the 2010 12 Hours of Sebring
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
carmaker Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
responsible for motorsport
Motorsport
Motorsport or motorsports is the group of sports which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles, whether for racing or non-racing competition...
activities.
Beginnings in rallying
Jean Todt
Jean Todt was born on February 25, 1946, in Pierrefort, Cantal, France. After a successful career as a rally co-driver he made his reputation in motor sport management, first with Peugeot Talbot Sport, then with Scuderia Ferrari, before being appointed Chief Executive Officer of Ferrari from 2004...
, a World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
co-driver for Talbot
Talbot
Talbot was an automobile marque that existed from 1903 to 1986, with a hiatus from 1960 to 1978, under a number of different owners, latterly under Peugeot...
driver Guy Fréquelin
Guy Fréquelin
Guy Fréquelin is a former French rally and sports car driver.Perhaps Fréquelin's finest hour as a driver came when he finished runner-up only to Ari Vatanen, alongside then-navigator Jean Todt, at the wheel of a briefly competitive Sunbeam Lotus Talbot in the driver's classification of the 1981...
, was asked by Peugeot to create a sporting department for the PSA Peugeot Citroën
PSA Peugeot Citroën
PSA Peugeot Citroën is a French manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles sold under the Peugeot and Citroën marques. Headquartered in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, PSA is the second largest automaker based in Europe and the number eight in the world.-History:In December 1974 Peugeot S.A....
group. The team debuted its Group B
Group B
Group B was a set of regulations introduced in 1982 for competition vehicles in sportscar racing and rallying regulated by the FIA. The Group B regulations fostered some of the quickest, most powerful and sophisticated rally cars ever built. However, a series of major accidents, some fatal, were...
Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 in 1984, and took its first victory in Finland in the hands of Ari Vatanen
Ari Vatanen
Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen is a Finnish rally driver turned politician and Member of the European Parliament 1999–2009. Vatanen won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and the Paris Dakar Rally four times....
. In 1985, Peugeot drivers Vatanen and Timo Salonen
Timo Salonen
Timo Salonen is a Finnish former rally driver and the 1985 world champion for Peugeot. It was commented of him that he stood out from other drivers, because he was overweight, wore thick glasses and smoked heavily, but still remained one of the fastest and most competitive drivers in the sport...
won seven out of the 12 rounds to give Peugeot the manufacturers' title and Salonen the drivers' title. Vatanen had been seriously injured in an accident in Argentina in 1985, so was replaced by Juha Kankkunen
Juha Kankkunen
Juha Matti Pellervo Kankkunen is a Finnish former rally driver. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1983 to 2002. He won 23 world rallies and four drivers' world championship titles, which were both once records in the series...
for 1986, who promptly delivered the team a second consecutive title. The FIA banned Group B cars for the 1987 season after the fatal accident of Henri Toivonen
Henri Toivonen
Henri Pauli Toivonen was a Finnish rally driver born in Jyväskylä, the home of Rally Finland. His father, Pauli Toivonen, was the 1968 European Rally Champion for Porsche and his brother, Harri Toivonen, became a professional circuit racer.Toivonen's first World Rally Championship victory came...
. This lead Peugeot to switch to rally raid
Rally raid
Rally raid, also known as cross country rallying is a form of long distance off-road racing that takes place over several days. Each day may require traveling up to . The length of the event can be 3–15 days...
, using the 205 to win the Dakar Rally
Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation...
for three consecutive years from 1987 to 1989, and then used the 405
Peugeot 405
The Peugeot 405 is a large family car released by the French automaker Peugeot in July 1987 and which continues to be manufactured under licence outside France. It used TU/XU petrol and XUD diesel engines....
to win in 1990.
Move to sportscars
Peugeot Talbot Sport established their sportscar team at Vélizy-VillacoublayVélizy-Villacoublay
Vélizy-Villacoublay is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the south-western suburbs of Paris from the center and east of Versailles...
, France and in 1988 launched the 905
Peugeot 905
The Peugeot 905 is a Sports-prototype racing car introduced for Sportscar racing.The car was initially unveiled in February 1990 and was developed throughout 1990 before making its race debut in the final two races of the 1990 World Sportscar Championship season .The car won the 24 Hours of Le Mans...
project, to develop a sportscar to begin competing in the 1991 season. The 905 was introduced in 1990, and finished second in the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season
1991 World Sportscar Championship season
The 1991 FIA Sportscar World Championship season was the 39th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1991 FIA Sportscar World Championship, which was contested over an eight race series from 14 April to 28 October 28 1991...
. In 1992, Peugeot Talbot Sport won the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1992 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 60th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 20 and 21 1992. It was also the third round of the Sportscar World Championship...
, with drivers Derek Warwick
Derek Warwick
Derek Stanley Arthur Warwick is a British former racing driver from England. He raced for many years in Formula One, but never won a Grand Prix. During the early 1980s he was thought more likely to achieve World Championship success than his contemporary Nigel Mansell, but a series of wrong...
, Yannick Dalmas
Yannick Dalmas
Yannick Dalmas is a former racing driver from France. He participated in 49 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 18 October 1987, but qualified for only 24 of them. His best result in F1 was a 5th place at the 1987 Australian Grand Prix, but he was not eligible for World Championship points at...
and Mark Blundell
Mark Blundell
Mark Blundell is a Formula One, sports car, and CART racing driver. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the end of the 2008 season when the TV broadcasting rights switched to the BBC....
. They also won the World Sportscar Championship
1992 World Sportscar Championship season
The 1992 Sportscar World Championship season was the 40th and final FIA World Sportscar Championship season. It was a series of Group C formula sportscars separated into two classes, termed C1 and FIA Cup. It ran from April 26, 1992 to October 18, 1992, comprising 6 races.-Pre-Season:From the...
, thanks to Warwick, Dalmas, Philippe Alliot
Philippe Alliot
Philippe Alliot is a former racing driver who participated in Formula One from to and from to . He raced for RAM, Ligier, Larrousse and McLaren....
and Mauro Baldi
Mauro Baldi
Mauro Baldi is an Italian former Formula One driver who raced for the Arrows, Alfa Romeo and Spirit teams.He started his career in rallying in 1972 and turned to circuit racing in 1975 with the Italian Renault 5 Cup...
. The championship did not run in 1993, but Peugeot were able to take a 1-2-3 finish at the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans
1993 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 61st Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 19 and 20 1993.A class for Grand Touring style cars was included for the first time since the 1985 race.-Official results:...
, with Eric Hélary
Eric Hélary
Eric Hélary is a racing driver from Paris. His career has encompassed single seater formulae, endurance sports car racing, and touring cars...
, Christophe Bouchut
Christophe Bouchut
Christophe Bouchut is a French race driver. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1993. He currently drives in the FIA GT1 World Championship...
and Geoff Brabham
Geoff Brabham
Geoff Brabham is an Australian racing driver. He is the son of three-time Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham. Brabham spent the majority of his racing career in the United States. He raced successfully in CART early in his career. In ten appearances in the Indianapolis 500, with a best result...
driving the winning car. Peugeot Talbot Sport subsequently pulled out of sportscar racing. Jean Todt, meanwhile, left Peugeot for Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
.
Formula One
Peugeot switched to Formula OneFormula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
for , using the same 3.5L V10 engine used in the 905. This was easily adapted to be used by McLaren
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
in 1994. However, poor results led to the relationship ending at the end of 1994. This led to Peugeot supplying Jordan Grand Prix
Jordan Grand Prix
Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan...
in and and , before supplying the new Prost Grand Prix
Prost Grand Prix
Prost Grand Prix was a Formula One racing team managed by former world champion Alain Prost. The team participated in five seasons from 1997 to 2001.-Purchase of Ligier:...
team for the , and seasons. The Peugeot engines were bought by Asiatech
Asiatech
Asiatech was a company which purchased the assets of the Peugeot Formula One engine programme at the end of the 2000 season and supplied Peugeot-based engines for two years.- Overview :...
at the end of 2000 and used for two further years.
Return to rallying
Peugeot 206 WRC
Peugeot 206 WRC is a World Rally Car based on the Peugeot 206. It was used by Peugeot Sport, Peugeot's factory team, in the World Rally Championship from 1999 to 2003. The car brought Peugeot the manufacturers' world title three years in a row from 2000 to 2002...
, under the guidance of director Corrado Provera. The car debuted at the Tour de Corse
Tour de Corse
The Tour de Corse - Rallye de France is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was part of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season to 2008. The name "Tour de Corse" refers to the fact that in the early days it was run around the island; nowadays it only features...
, with François Delecour
François Delecour
François Delecour is a rally driver.In the employ of Ford Motor Company as a driver of the factory-fettled Ford Escort RS Cosworth, he finished as runner-up in drivers' standings in the 1993 World Rally Championship season. He was still driving for Ford by January 1994, when he won the...
driving one car and Gilles Panizzi
Gilles Panizzi
Gilles Panizzi is a French rally driver on the World Rally Championship circuit.Gilles was born in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes...
and Marcus Grönholm
Marcus Grönholm
Marcus "Bosse" Grönholm is a Finnish former rally driver. Driving for Peugeot, he won the World Rally Championship in 2000 and 2002. After Peugeot withdrew from the World Rally Championship, Grönholm moved to Ford for the 2006 season and placed second in the drivers' world championship, losing the...
sharing the second car over the remaining events. Grönholm finished fourth on the car’s third event, Rally Finland
Rally Finland
The Neste Oil Rally Finland is a rally event driven in the Jyväskylä area in Central Finland. It is the biggest annually organised public event in the Nordic countries, gathering over 500,000 spectators every year....
, before Panizzi finished second on Rallye Sanremo
Rallye Sanremo
Rallye Sanremo is a rally competition held in Sanremo, Italy. Except for the 1995 event, the event was part of the FIA World Rally Championship schedule from the 1973 season to the 2003 season. Currently, it is a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and the Italian national rally...
.
In 2000, Grönholm gave the car its first victory at Rally Sweden, and followed this up with wins in New Zealand, Finland and Australia on his way to the Drivers’ championship. Panizzi won in Corsica and Sanremo, giving Peugeot the Manufacturers’ championship.
In 2001, Didier Auriol
Didier Auriol
Didier Auriol is a French rally driver.Born in Montpellier, and initially an ambulance driver, Auriol made his name as a French rally driver in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1990s. He became World Rally Champion in 1994, the first from his country to do so...
joined the team, replacing Delecour as the main driver alongside Grönholm. Panizzi and Harri Rovanperä
Harri Rovanperä
Harri "Rovis" Rovanperä is a Finnish rally driver who competed in the World Rally Championship from 1993 to 2006. He drove for SEAT , Peugeot , Mitsubishi and Red Bull Škoda Team...
also drove additional cars for the team on selected events. Rovanperä won round two in Sweden, as Grönholm struggled with retirements during the first half of the year. Auriol won in Spain, Grönholm won in Finland, Australia and Great Britain, and Panizzi won in Italy. The team retained their manufacturers’ crown, even though Grönholm was the best placed driver in the drivers’ standings, in fourth place. Rovanperä was fifth, Auriol eighth and Panizzi ninth.
For 2002, the team signed Richard Burns
Richard Burns
Richard Alexander Burns was an English rally driver. He was born in Reading, Berkshire. He was the 2001 World Rally Champion, having previously finished runner-up in the series in 1999 and 2000. He also helped Mitsubishi to the world manufacturers' title in 1998, and Peugeot in 2002...
, the 2001 champion, from Subaru, replacing Auriol in the team. Grönholm won round two in Sweden, before Panizzi took back-to-back wins in France and Spain. Grönholm won the next event in Cyprus, before he and Burns were disqualified for a technical infringement in Argentina. Grönholm won again in Finland, while Panizzi won his third event of the year in Italy. Grönholm completed back-to-back victories in New Zealand and Australia to take his second drivers’ title. Burns finished the season fifth, ahead of Panizzi and Rovanperä in sixth and seventh. Peugeot were able to take a third consecutive Manufacturers’ title.
The driver lineup remained the same for 2003, with Marlboro joining as title sponsor. Grönholm won in Sweden yet again, and took another two wins in New Zealand and Argentina. Panizzi picked up another win in Spain. Poised to rejoin Subaru in 2004, Burns was ruled out of action ahead of the final round of the season in Great Britain, having suffered a blackout while driving to the event. He was replaced for the event and the 2004 season by Belgian Freddy Loix
Freddy Loix
Freddy Loix is a Belgian rally driver.Loix's career in motor sport began in karting at the age of 15...
. Burns finished the season fourth in the standings, ahead of Grönholm in sixth. Peugeot lost its manufacturers crown to Citroën
Citroën
Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
.
For 2005, Peugeot signed Markko Märtin
Markko Märtin
Markko Märtin is a rally driver from Estonia, who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2000 until 2005.-Career:...
from Ford to partner Grönholm. Once again, it took until Grönholm won Rally Finland yet again in August for the team to win. Two rallies later, in Great Britain, Märtin’s co-driver Michael Park
Michael Park (co-driver)
Michael Park was a rally co-driver from Newent in Gloucestershire.One of the top co-drivers of his generation, Park died as a result of injuries sustained in an accident on the final leg of Wales Rally Great Britain when his Peugeot 307 WRC left the road and struck a tree...
was killed after the pair’s 307 WRC left the road. Märtin subsequently pulled out of the World Rally Championship. Daniel Carlsson and Nicolas Bernardi both filled in for him during the final four events. Grönholm took a second win of the season in Japan, on his way to third in the standings. Peugeot finished second in the manufacturers’ standings. At the end of 2005, PSA Peugeot Citroën withdrew its two teams from the WRC. Citroën took a year out to develop a new car and returned in 2007, but Peugeot did not return to the WRC.
Peugeot Sport created the Peugeot 207 S2000
Peugeot 207 S2000
The Peugeot 207 S2000 is Super 2000 rally car developed by Peugeot Sport. It is based upon the Peugeot 207 road car. Drivers Enrique García Ojeda, Nicolas Vouilloz and Kris Meeke won the Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers' title in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively in a Peugeot 207 S2000....
, a rally car built to Super 2000
Super 2000
Super 2000, also known as S2000, is an FIA specification and classification for production based race cars. The specification is split to cover both rally and touring car racing. Super 2000 rally cars are also permitted to compete in Super 2000 World Rally Championship events...
regulations. Peugeot Sport enter the cars, run by Kronos Racing
Kronos Racing
Kronos Racing is a Belgian auto racing and rally team.-History:Kronos Racing was set up in 1994, and ran circuit racing and rallying programmes on behalf of Peugeot Belgium/Luxembourg. The team's Peugeot 306 GTIs won the Spa 24 Hours in 1999 and 2000, the last two years that the event was run as a...
, in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge
Intercontinental Rally Challenge
The Intercontinental Rally Challenge is a rallying series organised by SRW Ltd and sanctioned by the FIA, aiming to "give new opportunities to young or amateur rally drivers competing in recognised regional and international rallies, while offering organisers an innovative TV format concept,...
(IRC). Peugeot drivers Enrique García-Ojeda, Nicolas Vouilloz
Nicolas Vouilloz
Nicolas Vouilloz is a French former professional mountain biker and rally driver.He won the Downhill Mountain Bike World Championships ten times, starting as a junior in 1992 and finishing his career with the his 10th victory in 2002, only placing lower in 2000 finishing 8th...
and Kris Meeke
Kris Meeke
Kris Meeke is a professional rally driver. He was the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion. His current co-driver is Paul Nagle...
won the IRC drivers' title in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively.
Return to sportscars
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
with the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. The car made its debut at the 2007 1000km of Monza
2007 1000km of Monza
The 2007 1000 km of Monza was the opening round of the 2007 Le Mans Series season. It took place on April 15, 2007, at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy.-Official results:Class winners in bold...
, the opening round of the 2007 Le Mans Series season
2007 Le Mans Series season
The 2007 Le Mans Series season was the fourth season of ACO's Le Mans Series. It was a series for Le Mans prototype and Grand Touring style cars broken into four classes: LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2...
. The pairing of Marc Gené
Marc Gené
Marc Gené i Guerrero is a motor racing driver, from Catalonia, Spain. He is best known as a tester for Williams and Ferrari in Formula One, Minardi Formula One driver and factory driver for Peugeot's Le Mans team, with which he won the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans...
and Nicolas Minassian
Nicolas Minassian
Nicolas Minassian is a French race driver of Armenian descent.After spending finishing 2nd place in the 1993 Formula Renault Eurocup, he graduated to the French Formula Three Championship where he finished runner-up to countryman Laurent Redon at his second attempt in 1995...
took the car to victory. At the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans
2007 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 75th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France from 16–17 June 2007. Four classes of cars raced together, with each class having honors for its highest finishers...
, Stéphane Sarrazin
Stéphane Sarrazin
Stéphane Sarrazin is a Peugeot factory racing driver from France. He participated in 1 Formula One Grand Prix for Minardi, debuting on April 11, 1999 at the Brazilian Grand Prix. He was a replacement for Luca Badoer, who had injured his wrist. He suffered a big spin in the race coming up to the...
took pole position for the team ahead of the Audis. In the race, the #8 car of Sarrazin, Pedro Lamy
Pedro Lamy
José Pedro Mourão Lamy Viçoso, OIH, better known as Pedro Lamy , is a professional racing driver from Portugal. He is notable for being the first Portuguese driver to score a point in a World Championship event, in the 1995 Australian Grand Prix, for Minardi...
and Sébastien Bourdais
Sébastien Bourdais
Sébastien Olivier Bourdais is a French race car driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Champ Car World Series, having won four successive championships from 2004 to 2007....
finished second behind the #1 Audi. After Le Mans, Sarrazin and Lamy took the Le Mans Series title for Peugeot.
At the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans
2008 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 76th Grand Prix of Endurance, taking place on 14–15 June 2008 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France, organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest . The test day was on June 1. The race was attended by 258,000 spectators...
, Peugeot and Sarrazin once again took pole position, locking out the first three places on the grid. In the race, the trio of cars finished in second, third and fifth. In the Le Mans Series, Peugeot lost out to Audi again, Minassian and Gené finishing in second place.
At the beginning of 2009, PSA Peugeot Citroën made Citroën Sport director Olivier Quesnel the director of Peugeot Sport too. At the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans
2009 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 77th Grand Prix of Endurance, an endurance auto race run over 24 hours. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France, and was organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest over June 13–14, 2009 and was started by Fiat and Ferrari chairman Luca...
, Sarrazin set his third consecutive pole position for the team. In the race, the team delivered its first Le Mans victory since 1993, with the trio of David Brabham
David Brabham
David Brabham is an Australian racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians to have won the Le Mans 24 Hour sports car race, winning the event in...
, Gené and Alexander Wurz
Alexander Wurz
Alexander Wurz is an Austrian racing driver. He competed in Formula One from until , and is also a two-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours....
winning ahead of the car driven by Franck Montagny
Franck Montagny
Franck Montagny is a French motor racing driver. He briefly raced for the Super Aguri Formula One team in 2006.-Early career:...
, Bourdais and Sarrazin. The team’s third car finished the race in sixth position. The team only contested one round of the Le Mans Series season, at Spa as preparation for Le Mans itself.
Peugeot scored a 1-2 finish at the 2010 12 Hours of Sebring
2010 12 Hours of Sebring
The 58th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida was the 2010 running of the 12 Hours of Sebring and the opening round of the 2010 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at the Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida on March 20, 2010...
.