LE MANS // Peugeot's bid for a second straight victory at this weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans is on the right track after the French manufacturer secured the four leading spots on the starting grid. Sebastien Bourdais, the former Champ Car champion from France, clinched pole position in his 908 TDI with a best lap of 3mins 19.711secs that no driver was able to better during Thursday's last qualifying session, which was punctuated by short showers.
Bourdais will start the 78th edition of the race today ahead of Alexander Wurz, the former Formula One driver, with Stephane Sarrazin sitting third, and Team Oreca's Peugeot driven by Nicolas Lapierre fourth. "This pole proves that we are strong, now we have to turn that strength into victory," Bourdais said. "Now I want the race to start, time is going to drag until Saturday. We have the equipment, the speed and the people to win, but we need to stay humble and hope for a little luck."
Peugeot ended Audi's five-year domination at Le Mans last year when they claimed their first win since 1993. Wurz, Marc Gene and Anthony Davidson then gave Peugeot their first victory in the Twelve Hours of Sebring in March to maintain the French team dominance in endurance races. Peugeot will start on pole for the fourth time in as many years at the 13.6km Circuit de la Sarthe. "We worked hard and we couldn't have done better, but we haven't won anything yet," said Olivier Quesnel, the Peugeot Sport team director. "We are ready but that doesn't mean we are going to have an easy weekend. Taking the pole is one thing, taking the victory is quite another."
Audi's Mike Rockenfeller could not break the Peugeot stranglehold with a best time of 3mins 21.981secs. He will start in fifth position ahead of two other Audi R15s. Rockenfeller and Alan McNish, his teammate, fought hard to close the gap and improve their qualifying times. They will count on their cars' reliability and race set-ups to upset their Peugeot rivals. "We like where we are, we are where we expected," Tom Kristensen said. He is the most successful driver at Le Mans with eight wins. "We have worked on our programmes and tried to optimise different aerodynamic aspects and the mechanical grip. I can tell you, if any of the guys here see an opportunity they will go for it."
Driving with sons Greg and Leo in a Ginetta-Zytek, Nigel Mansell, the former F1 world champion, will start from 18th on the grid. It will the first time a team made up of a father and two sons are competing at Le Mans. "The goal is to finish and get more competitive and the biggest goal is to attract a sponsor so that we can continue our dream," Mansell said. Mansell will race for the first time in Le Mans but should feel at home with tens of thousands of British fans expected in the stands.
* AP
