Davidson In, Loeb Out of Peugeot's Lineup for Le Mans

Anthony Davidson might have failed to secure himself a Formula One drive this season, but the British racer has been handed a true promotion as far as his Le Mans 24 Hours race programme is concerned, as he has just been confirmed in the Peugeot lineup for the 2010 campaign.

The French manufacturer scored its first ever Le Mans 24 Hours race win last season, while Davidson was at the time driving an Aston Martin LMP1 machine, alongside Darren Turner and Jos Verstappen, finishing on an overall 13th place.

On the other hand, it has emerged that 6-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb will not be joining the French manufacturer's squad for the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours race, this being a last-minute decision he took prior to Peugeot's announcing its official lineup for this year. According to France's publication Auto Hebdo, Loeb decided to focus entirely on his WRC programme this season, when he is currently trailing Ford rival Mikko Hirvonen by 7 points.

In early December last year, Peugeot had confirmed via a statement that Loeb has just tested for their 2010 Le Mans team, but an overall decision was expected to be taken in the following months.

This would have been a great opportunity for Loeb to return to Le Mans 24 Hours after 3 years of absence, as he had previously competed in the famous endurance race with Pescarolo in consecutive years in 2005/06.

The 2010 edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours race will mark the first time when Peugeot will have to defend their title in the competition, after 3 year of Audi domination. The German manufacturer already confirmed their drivers' lineups for the 2010 race, fielding 3 teams for their R15 TDI prototype this year.