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Peugeot suspends its endurance racing program with immediate effect (63 posts)

Topic tags: Le Mans, peugeot, WEC

Viewing post 16 to 30 (63 total posts)

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BasCB said 1 year, 5 months ago:

Woah, that really comes as a supprise! Wonder if Audi will call it quits soon as well then (nobody to fight for the win, and Porsche coming in from the VW-group).

As @keithcollantine writes, let’s hope they will at least let privateers run the cars now.

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Keith Collantine said 1 year, 5 months ago:

Response from ACO president Jean-Claude Plassart:

“It is a big disappointment for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship, which begins in the year 2012.

“A competition created at the request of manufacturers in general and in particular Peugeot. No doubt the hundreds of thousands of fans who flock to the 24 Hours of Le Mans each year and millions of viewers who follow will regret the absence of the Peugeot ‘lions’ “.

http://www.lemans.org/en/news/Response_by_the_ACO_to_the_news_of_the_cancellation_of_Peugeot-s_endurance_racing_programme__6009.html

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PJ said 1 year, 5 months ago:

Holy crap.

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Victor_RO said 1 year, 5 months ago:

However… coincidentally it’s revealed today of all days and only a few hours after the Peugeot pull-out announcement:

Pescarolo Team en WEC avec une auto et deux au Mans…

— Endurance Info (@EnduranceInfo) January 18, 2012

Pescarolo with one car in the WEC and two at Le Mans, but no word as to what kind of car yet. Still clinging to hopes that at least the second car for Le Mans is a Peugeot. We’ll have to wait for Feb 2 and the entry list reveal to see that though.

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wdf2 said 1 year, 5 months ago:

Now I’m definitely not going to buy that Peugeot I wasn’t planning on buying.

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xbx-117 said 1 year, 5 months ago:

I’m shocked and disappointed. This is a shame, and I feel this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans will suffer for it.

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matt90 said 1 year, 5 months ago:

Great shame. Why did they do it before the inaugural season of the WEC, after supporting its inception? They may have lost le mans last year but generally were quite successful. Diversity is important for motorsport. The fight between two teams (last year in particular) was epic, but having more manufacturers involved was always going to be better.

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AndrewTanner said 1 year, 5 months ago:

I’ve never followed ELMS before but I know that Peugeot were a big deal in it. I plan on tuning in this year so while I guess I won’t miss them much I do hope for some good competition.

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Mads said 1 year, 5 months ago:

So now Audi won’t even have anyone to beat for the thousands time on the trot..
They will just have to stay clear of the 458′s and they will probably have won the race by the time the others start lap 17.
Le Mans 2012 is probably going to be a race worth forgetting pretty quickly.
Well lets hope that Toyota will be able to take the fight to Audi in a few years time.
Sad news indeed.

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JPedroCQF1 said 1 year, 5 months ago:

I really think that Peugeot never really got to capture the true spirit of Le Mans. They won in 2009 the 24 Hours but in 2010 they just wanted to humiliate Audi, which is just stupid. They strategies are idiotic and after what they did to Pedro Lamy at last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans I’m just laughing out loud to their faces. Its what we are doing in Portugal!

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S.J.M said 1 year, 5 months ago:

To be fair JPedroCQF1, Lamy wasnt exactly quick in the ’11 Le Man race compared to his co-drivers, if I recall correctly. But to dump someone in mid-race is perhaps a bit unfair.

Gutted really, the team did well last year (Le Man aside) and was a genuine rival to Audi. Who now takes up the challenge? I doubt we’l see any till 2013, perhaps even 2014. I dont know, perhaps not having a French team in F1 makes me feel worse about this, but a French team at Le Man is as welcome and traditional as haviing the British/Italian/German/Belgian grand Prixs. I hope someone runs a customer team, I really do.

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JPedroCQF1 said 1 year, 5 months ago:

@sjm Yes but he could have helped the others if he drove more time. In the end Sébastien Bourdais was complaining all over the place about Quesnel’s strategy and about not getting enough rest during the race.

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matt90 said 1 year, 5 months ago:

I was also rather put off by their blocking of the sole remaining Audi last year.

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RumFRESH said 1 year, 5 months ago:

Very disappointing, they were picking up steam and really challenging Audi. This really counteracts the excitement of Toyota entering. I can’t help but think Peugeot simply gave up. They will cite a shift in focus but I doubt they’d do this if they were winning.

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Prisoner Monkeys said 1 year, 5 months ago:

I kind of wish PSA Peugeot Citroen had scrapped their rally programme instead. They’ve been winning that for so long no-one notices any more.

Yes, but they’re winning. Why give up the golden goose?

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