Peugeot and Aston Martin are both on form for a strong Le Mans showing, at least if the result of the Spa 1000km is a reliable guide to form.
Peugeot took the chequered flag from pole position at the Spa ‘Six Hours’ over the weekend, in a 908 HDi turbodiesel piloted by Nicolas Minassian, Simon Pagenaud and Christian Klien. A second Peugeot driven by David Brabham, Alexander Wurz and Marc Gene had to settle for 13
after a racing accident lost the car five laps and a four minute stop-go penalty.
The Aston Martin team also had cause to celebrate a hard-fought third place on the podium, in spite of a mechanical problem that caused its lead 007 car to miss out on a qualifying time and start from the back of the grid. Aston’s 009 entry finished fifth, with a puncture and vibration problems losing time in the race.
Two Audi R10s finished in sixth and seventh place, but Peugeot will be up against the latest Audi R15s at Le Mans next month.
Aston hopes to be battling for ‘petrol’ honours behind the anticipated Peugeot and Audi battle for outright victory, but pundits expect them to face strong competition from the Courage-ORECAs and the Pescarolo Judd that finished second at Spa.
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