24h Le Mans
An exceptional piece of recent endurance history will be sold by auctioneers RM Sotheby's in Monaco on Saturday 14 May 2016. The Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, seen at Le Mans in 2008, is expected to fetch between 1.2 and 1.6 million euro.
This will be the second time that a Peugeot 908 is sold at auction. Chassis 02, the car that took the 1000 km of Monza title in 2007 on the 908’s race debut, was sold for €1.68m four years ago. This time, RM Sotheby’s are auctioning chassis 05 that raced not only under the Peugeot banner, but also for French team Oreca. With its V12 engine producing in excess of 700 horsepower and a design that harks back to the LM P1 regulations of the day (it does not have the rear shark fin that improves a car’s stability should it leave the track), this 908 is a real beauty with a track record to match.
A year on from their return to endurance and the start of their epic battle with Audi, Peugeot started the 2008 season full of hope. The marque had built the monocoque of chassis 05 in late 2007 and it made an unexpected first track appearance on 11 June 2008 at testing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a replacement for chassis 04 that crashed at the Porsche Curves on Test Day. At the end of the 24-hour race with Nicolas Minassian, Marc Gene and Jacques Villeneuve sharing the driving duties, the car took the runners-up spot for Team Peugeot Total, just behind the winning Audi R10 TDI. Chassis 05 went on to finish second once again in the 1000 km of Nürburgring in August that year, although at Silverstone Minassian was forced to retire following an incident with a Porsche.
Chassis 05 continued its career in 2009 on the other side of the Atlantic at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Sporting #07 and driven by Christian Klien, Pedro Lamy and Minassian, it finished in fifth place. A change of number to #08 proved lucky in September 2009 when this 908 HDi FAP won at Petit Le Mans with Franck Montagny and Stéphane Sarrazin at the wheel.
The Peugeot 908 HDi FAP chassis 05 was to taste success in Europe once again in its swansong season with victory in the 1000 km of Algarve, in the 2010 Le Mans Series. Sarrazin was again at the wheel, this time with Nicolas Lapierre and Olivier Panis, for the Oreca team. Later that season, the car made its final two race appearances at the 1000 km of Hungaroring and the 1000 km of Silverstone.
Geoffroy Barre — Translated from French by David Goward
Photo: Peugeot Sport returned to endurance racing and the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2007 to 2011 with the Peugeot 908.
