Nicolas Minassian, Pedro Lamy and Christian Klien will ride together for the first time in car number 7. Car number 8 will be driven by Stephane Sarrazin, Sebastien Bourdais and Franck Montagny, while behind the wheel of car number 9 will be Marc Gene, David Brabham and Alexander Wurz.
To rise up to the occasion, Peugeot had to make some changes to their 2009-spec competition cars. Bruno Famin, Peugeot Sport's technical director explained what the changes consisted of in the statement released today. The release is posted below.
"The ACO's measures mean a drop in engine power because our car must run with a smaller air restrictor, the diameter of which has come down from 39.9mm to 38.3mm. We have paid special attention to aerodynamics too. The regulations dictate a smaller rear wing, the width of which has come down from 2 to 1.6 meters."
"We have consequently had to revise the overall package in order to rebalance the car by reducing front downforce. This explains the new front-end bodywork we will be running for the first time at Le Mans."
"Then in April the ACO forced us to carry 30kg of ballast and that has had a significant impact on the resistance of certain mechanical parts, notably suspension and brake components. Lastly, the fuel filler pipe is narrower and that will add almost three seconds to fuel stops."
"Meanwhile, the requirement for closed cars to have air conditioning to prevent the cockpit temperature from exceeding 32C has called for the incorporation of a power take-off at the end of the gearbox to drive the compressor."
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