French Connection: Villeneuve to drive Peugeot 908 at Le Mans
Having unveiled the 908 LM racing car at the Paris show this past September, Peugeot is gearing up to race their new car in the European Le Mans Series. The French company is serious about competing at Le Mans and in the entire series, and they've signed on some key drivers to get them to victory lane.
The biggest name is none other than Jacques Villeneuve. For those coming late to the game, the French Canadian driver recently left Formula One and is trying to make his way into NASCAR. With his efforts looking less-than-likely to materialize for the 2007 season, Jacques is joining the Peugeot racing program in a bid to become the first driver ever to have won the F1 championship, the Champ Car title, the Indy 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As if his CV wasn't full enough as it is...but unfortunately, despite the enormous success of his early career, subsequent seasons in F1 were less than spectacular, to put it mildly.
Joining Villeneuve behind the wheel of the 908 are Nicolas Manassian, Stephane Sarrazin, Pedro Lamy, Marc Gene (of Ferrari test-driving fame) and three-time Champ Car champ Sebastien Bourdais. Eric Helary, who won Le Mans for Peugeot in 1993, joins the new team as a test and back-up driver.
The Peugeot 908 follows the smashing success of the Audi R10 diesel racing car with an all-aluminum twelve-cylinder common-rail direct-injection twin-turbo diesel with the latest advanced particulate filter system. Between the green power, the big-name drivers and the return of the French carmaker to the series, there are a lot of reasons to keep an eye on Peugeot this season, kicking off at Monza on April 14.
[Source: Peugeot]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Racing videos 12:58PM (1/14/2007)
What an awesome looking race car, I love their concept cars also.
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epp_b 1:25PM (1/14/2007)
Yes, yes, YES! Thank-you, Villeneuve for not putting Canada to shame by joining NASCRAP!
I'll be watching the next Le Mans because of this.
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PiCASSO 5:10PM (1/14/2007)
"Yes, yes, YES! Thank-you, Villeneuve for not putting Canada to shame by joining NASCRAP!"
Indeed.
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dejal 4:16PM (1/14/2007)
"Yes, yes, YES! Thank-you, Villeneuve for not putting Canada to shame by joining NASCRAP!"
WTF??
Why should you care (to the degree that you do) what anybody does? Why does JV + NASCAR or not NASCAR matter about "putting Canada to shame"? He can do what he wants. He doesn't answer to you or need your permission to race (or not).
You're embarrassing yourself. I've never understood how the success or failure of a sports team or individual raises or lowers my own self worth.
I'm hoping JV puts a NASCAR deal together. It sounds like you would "off" yourself. Here's hoping.
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tony 8:18PM (1/14/2007)
WOW. What a beautiful car. Le Mans is going to more competitive with this car being on the line up. can't wait for the series start.
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epp_b 8:34PM (1/14/2007)
I wonder what "dejal" stands for. Derek James Lonnie? Maybe Dean Jimmy Albert? Or Dennis Jackson Austin, perhaps?
...well, they're all redneck enough to be accurate.
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John P. 10:00AM (1/15/2007)
That really is a nice looking car. Best looking racecar I've seen since the Jaguar gtp and lemans cars from the 80's and early 90's
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