Villeneuve and Bourdais headline Peugeot LeMans effort
Added photo of the Peugeot driver lineup.
01/10/07 Peugeot has confirmed the six drivers who will pilot their new diesel powered 908 HDi during the Le Mans Series season and in the Le Mans 24 Hours itself.
French duo Nicolas Minassian and Stephane Sarrazin and former F1 racers Pedro Lamy and Marc Gene will race the new cars in the Le Mans Series (LMES) throughout the year, and will be joined for the Le Mans 24 Hours by former Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve and triple Champ Car title winner Sebastien Bourdais. Another Frenchman, Eric Helary, will act as test and reserve driver.
"We were not looking for a particular profile but rather drivers that have certain qualities," team manager Serge Saulnier said of his line-up. "We need speed of course, but also consistency, a driver who knows how to get the best from his vehicle in all conditions, especially changes in the track, whilst being able to master the traffic and, of course, someone who is in excellent physical condition. I initially looked at those from Formula One or the young ex F1 drivers. Despite what you may think, there are not that many of them who have these qualities.
"It's obvious that a manufacturer such as Peugeot cannot have a wholly French team in such a large scale program. Nevertheless I have received no particular guidelines. To start with I set my sights on a German and English driver. But a lot of them were signed up to drive for Formula One."