2009 24 Hours of Le Mans: Peugeot finally at the top
by Damon Lavrinc on Jun 14th 2009 at 10:55AM 
382 laps. 3,247 miles. 24 hours. If you haven't been following along, that's the recipe for Peugeot's first and second place finish at the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans. After a ten-minute stint in the pits, the No. 1 R15's fate was sealed, and when the checkered flag finally dropped, the Audi was seven laps behind the No. 9 Peugeot. But just as impressive asPeugeot's win (and its first-place standing since 9 pm last night) is the 007 Lola Aston Martin's fourth-place finish, the Corvette C6.R's complete and utter dominance of GT1 and the fact that every single GT2 car – including the No. 85 Spyker C8 Laviolette – beat out the lone Porsche 911 GT3 RSR after the three other 997s slowly succumbed to attrition. We're going to leave it to the analysts and commentators to pick apart how the race was won (or lost), but we will say that our first experience at Le Mans left us in awe of the competitors, the support teams and, most impressively, the mass of fans that descended on the circuit. It's a goosebump-inducing experience and needless to say, we highly recommend it. Time for a much-needed shower and some rest. Check the gallery below for plenty of photos from the finish and see the full standings here.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Motor_Yakuza 11:02AM (6/14/2009)
This is the end of the age of Audi. I knew that was coming.
Reply
zamafir 11:22AM (6/14/2009)
Audi will be fine next year provided they don't cheap out like this year. All their problems were the direct result of a brand new approach (air flow through the car) which they didn't set enough budget aside to adequately test (by competing in ALMS et-al). They've also learned a lesson regarding raw speed and the significant advantage it plays when Jason's wrong and it doesn't rain at LeMans. Next year should be just as exciting.
dwightB 11:19AM (6/14/2009)
How is that? If they come back and win next year, then what? One loss does not equate to the "end of an age" of any manufacturer, lol.
Motor_Yakuza 11:28AM (6/14/2009)
They won't, probably they will go to F1 or something because after the this year to stay at Le Mans it will be like they admit the fact that they wore weak., and I knew that was coming because they couldn't keep wining forever.
Dondonel 11:32AM (6/14/2009)
Audi should leave this sport alone. Audi destroyed the LMP class for their interest in promoting diesels. It's the same thing they did with WTCC. Diesels would dissapear the next day from motorsport, if they were put on equal footing with gasoline engines.
Good riddance Audi.
zamafir 11:48AM (6/14/2009)
well dwight, if you needed any indication this jdm fan boy has no clue what he's talking about that F1 comment should do it.
Yakauza, give it a rest, or go educate yourself. Audi won't enter FI, Toyota wont win LeMans (as you've needlessly spouted before). Hell, only one japanese automaker has ever managed to win lemans, and it wasn't your beloved toyota. Go get a clue.
Xa 12:03PM (6/14/2009)
@ dondonel
no, audi shouldn't leave. what they should do is try to improve their car and try to win next year. i've been rooting for peugeot since they debuted the 908, and it's been a good battle for the last few years with audi. we all remember when audi was winning everything and for some of us, it was dumb because there was no competition. now they have a car that can compete with and beat them, so it would only get better if both teams continued on.
congrats to peugeot for their victory.
Motor_Yakuza 12:26PM (6/14/2009)
Yeah, I know Mazda won at Le Mans, in 1991 using a rotary engine and with Johnny Herbert, Bertrand Gachot and Volker Weidler behind the wheel, and saying that Toyota won't win at Le Mans without even seeing what the car can do, it's a pretty stupid thing to do. And I'm not a Toyota only fan, you know, just I know that Toyota will be back at Le Mans in 2010 and it won't come just to be there.
zamafir 12:27PM (6/14/2009)
@Xa - spot on!
@ dondonel - Audi didn't destroy anything. They were undefeated with their R8s and got bored, so they introduced their TDI powered cars hoping to at least provide some competition for themselves (in striving to match the R8s dominance). As Xa's mentioned, Audi finally has a rival so things can only get interesting from here on out. But anyone bemoaning the use of diesel in an endurance race, I'm not quite sure where the logic is there.
sparrk 12:40PM (6/14/2009)
don't mind the Americans , they just don't like diesels.
zamafir 1:20PM (6/14/2009)
@Motor_Yakuza - it's not stupid at all, it's pretty simple, to win LMP1 you need diesel power now, the game has moved on. LeMans is one of the more production car focused sort of races in motorsports. Looking at Peugeot and Audi's portfolios it's easy to see what experience they drew upon to build their LMP1 cars. Now look at toyota, both from a successful race perspective (disadvantage) and from a diesel perspective (disadvantage) and from an endurance perspective (massive disadvantage).
I know you enjoy getting a rise out of people with irrelevant fantasy talk but really it couldn't be more off base than here. It took Peugeot 3 years to beat Audi. Toyota's not going to enter LMP1 next year and hit the podium, their motorsports performance over the last decade, and especially last two years at the 24 hours of the 'ring, speak louder than any speculation you may have. The burden of proof is on Toyota and they've failed to provide it twice during their two attempts at the 'ring. If they can't even manage a podium finish, let alone top 50, or 25, or 5 at that venue, they've got zero chance in LMP1. They were beat by journalists driving 4 bangers for god-sakes.
Though it would make sense for them to move out of their atrocious performance at F1, LMP1 is not going to be any easier. Actually, it'll be harder for them, because LMP1 requires innovation, and doesn't have the strict envelope that F1 provides, and in that sort of venue, as toyota's shown the last two years at the 'ring, they simply can't compete, even at the lowest level.
Javanese 2:25PM (6/14/2009)
I'm just truly glad that it's not another boring lemans with audi winning again (as is the last 10 years). Roll on next year, i hope this victory will spark Peugeot interest in lemans and didnt just quit because they've already achieved their target.
Oh btw didnt anybody notice that Patrick dempsey (the tv doctor) actually finished 30th overall in his 1st ever le mans with a rookie team and rookie drivers? Mad props to the guy, he just achieved one of the hardest task a racing driver could've ever faced; the 24 hours of le mans. It's true what they said, to finish first, you first have to finish.
anonymous j 2:30PM (6/14/2009)
zamafir seems like the only fanboy here is you.
why not the LS2LS7? 2:52PM (6/14/2009)
Dondonel is right, Audi saw a hole in the regs and drove a tank through it. The hole was created to favor teams like the Caterpillar Diesel team years ago, not for big dollar efforts. What Audi did with the R10 is no better (or worse) than what Mercedes/Ilmor did by bringing in a pushrod V8 to Indy 15 years ago. It wasn't a question of which technology is better, it was just that the regulations favored one over the other.
Personally, I find it disappointing that gas cars are kept below an equal footing when there are no independent gas engine manufacturers to sell to privateers. I also find it perverse that the regs allow enormous, heavy Diesel engines which compromise the cars in favor of straight line speed. The ACO seems to be against straight line speed in all other cases (they neutered the R8, the C5-R all gas turbo engines greater than 2.0L displacement or so) but Diesel gets a pass. Bizarre.
why not the LS2LS7? 5:47PM (6/14/2009)
Javanese:
Dempsey has been racing for at least two years in Grand Am. He did at least a year in their GT cars and has been in the DP (Daytona Prototypes) for this season and part of last.
Kiiks 8:26PM (6/14/2009)
Well done for Peugeot. They finally figured out what it takes to topple the giant. No easy task. While Audi's dynasty may be at it's end, this can only mean good things for sports cars if 2011 brings more manufacturers into the fold. Peugeot has shown the world that the four-ringed juggernaut can be beaten and hopefully that will only encourage others to try as well. Audi will be back to reclaim their throne.
@ Zamafir - the Toyota GT-One was a pretty innovative design for its day. The Bentley GTPs drew heavily from it. By all rights, it could have won but Toyota did not have the persistence as Peugeot did to stick it out another year.
I wonder if the thought of Acura (Honda) racing for the Le Mans crown would tickle Toyota's sensibilities and elicit a return to La Sarthe with a closed-top prototype? By that time, would Mazda be tempted to re-work a Lola (á la Aston Martin) and battle it's Japanese brethren? BMW's GT2 program proves that they're keeping one foot in the waters. Would they commit to an LMP again? Will Ferrari really defect to sports cars? Montezemolo was there this year, are the back-to-back GT2 wins just whetting his appetite for the overall?
I think Peugeot will stay in sports cars for a while longer. They'll probably run that 908HY that they showed last year for the next season or running while they develop the 909 for 2011.
As for next year, it's the last year with the current-ish regs. I would be surprised to see a new entry from anybody.
Can you imagine, though? Peugeot and Audi fighting the diesel war while Honda, Toyota and Mazda fight them, and eachother, BMW, Aston and Ferrari round out the European showing for a titanic 8-way battle in the ALMS/LMS and the 24?
I need to change my pants.
AZZO45b 7:52AM (6/15/2009)
LS2/7: Patrick Dempsey was still a rookie @ LeMans24... EVERY driver in the field has some kind of pro series experience!!!
Dempsey started his career @ the Panoz Driving School in Georgia... He lives close to Road Atlanta & his wife gave him a very cool birthday gift
He has never raced the DPs in Grand-Am..... He has raced full seasons in the GT class with his Mazda R8 team. BTW, he also does voiceover work in many of the Mazda TV ads.
cM 11:08AM (6/14/2009)
sorry just a correction the 007 Lola Aston Martin came 4th overall, not 5th. & yes i'm an Aston Fan & really happy of the result :D
Reply
zamafir 11:22AM (6/14/2009)
Aston did a fantastic job with those cars, they looked and sounded incredible. Pity one of their drivers pulled the crap he did, but aside from that little down point, a really fantastic effort!
Mobius_1 1:35PM (6/14/2009)
I missed the factory DBR9s and their epic war with Corvettes. But I'm really glad for them, and when the diesels stop being superior, Aston's LMP1 can truly win LeMans. That would be heck of a day.
And congrats to Corvette, love the C6R (all 'Vettes, actually), total domination. Last but not least, great race by Peugeot, totally deserved it, and that formation finish was the icing on the cake.
Time to get a new wallpaper to take over the Audi R10. :)