Following the unveiling of the 908 in February, a dieselhybrid version of the new car will be on display at the Geneva Motor Show. The newcomer has already been set ambitious targets for the 2011 season.

The new 908 was designed to comply with endurance racing’s latest regulations and will play a part in the 2011 offensive of the Brand whose commitment in favour of the environment represents a major part of its activity. Indeed, the combination of driving excitement with environmentally respectful performance at the very highest level is dialled into Peugeot’s brand identity. This commitment will now also be championed by its Hybrid4 technology which combines diesel and electric power, two fields in which the Brand has forged a solid reputation for excellence.

908 HYbrid4 technology
Since the unveiling of the team’s demonstration hybrid car at Silverstone, in 2008, Peugeot Sport has continued to work on this technology in extremely close collaboration with the Group’s engineers. The system employed by the 908 HYbrid4 recovers and stores the kinetic energy generated under braking before feeding it back into the driveline during acceleration. Using this recovered energy in this way significantly improves the efficiency of the powertrain.

The system provides a power boost of 60kW (80hp) during the seconds that follow its redelivery. Recovered energy
(500kJ between two braking phases) is stored in lithium-ion batteries before being automatically fed to the rear wheels
under acceleration (no “push to pass” function). It will be possible to run in electric mode only along the pit-lane, and it
is this mode that will be used for the car’s homologation.

Objective for the 908 HYbrid4 in 2011
Following the world premiere of the 908 HYbrid4 in white livery at the Geneva Motor Show, Peugeot Sport will turn its attention to meeting a target it has set for the newcomer. This is to run the car at the official pre-Le Mans 24 Hours test day at the French circuit on April 24. Achieving this ambitious objective will depend on how well the team’s preparations for Le Mans go with the new 908, and also on how the 908 HYbrid4 performs during its maiden track test at the end of March.

908 HYbrid4 – Technical Data
Chassis: carbon monocoque
Gearbox
Sequential, hydraulic, six forward speeds plus reverse
Internal combustion engine
Diesel, V8 HDi FAP
Cubic capacity: 3.7 litres
Power: 550 horsepower
Hybrid system:
Power: 60kW (80hp)*
* during energy delivery phases only
Delivery of recovered energy:
• To the rear wheels;
• 500kJ between two braking phases;
• Energy stored in lithium-ion batteries;
• Automatic delivery of energy under acceleration (no “push to pass” function).
It will be possible to use the electric mode only along the pit lane.
Dimensions
Length: 4,640mm
Width: 2,000mm
Wheelbase: 2,950mm
Height: 1,030mm
Weight: 900kg

Don’t forget to take advantage of our Evo and Octane magazine offer by booking your place at Le Mans 2011 before the end of February!!

Make a new booking with us to the Le Mans 24 hours in 2011 between now and the 28th of February and you will receive a free 12 months subscription to your choice of either EVO or Octane magazine.

Call us on (0844) 873 0203 to make your new Le Mans booking and just state which magazine you would prefer to receive.

With the Le Mans Series hosting a race at the Hungaroring and the American Le Mans Series visiting Road America in Wisonsin, it was always going to be a busy weekend for the British Le Mans teams.

Overtaking at the Hungaroring is notoriously difficult due to its narrow straights and slow corners, so as the LMP1 cars including the Peugeot from the Oreca team set the early pace, there would have been few that would have been betting on a surprising outcome. However, as the reliability of the LMP1 cars faltered, so the LMP2 cars began to shine. Continuing their success from the Le Mans 24 Hours the British Strakka Racing team proved their class by not only winning the LMP2 title, but also taking the chequered flag for their fist overall win! Jonny Kane, Nick Leventis & Danny Watts drove a superlative race and the Strakka HPD car ran smoothly throughout to bring them home ahead of the field.

Another British performance of note was that of Leo & Greg Mansell, bringing the Beechdean-Mansell LMP1 car in ahead of its class rivals. Consistency on the track and efficiency from the pit lane team ensured a first class win for the team. The Saleen of Larbre Competition avoided trouble to take the LMGT1 class honours and a thrilling LMGT2 race ended with the Felbermayr-Proton Porsche GT3 RSR just pipping the British CRS Racing Ferrari to the top of the podium, in a fiercely contested battle.

Across the Atlantic the American Le Mans Series race at Road America came down to a last lap sprint and a nail biting finish. With four laps to go of this intriguing battle the Muscle Milk RS Spyder with Klaus Graf was leading, with David Brabham in the Highcroft Racing HPD fighting hard to stay ahead of the Dyson Racing Team with Guy Smith behind the wheel. The Drayson Racing Lola-Judd coupe piloted by Jonny Cocker had dropped down to fourth following a pit stop for fuel.

After regaining third place, Cocker then found himself back in fourth after running wide in competition for second, but was soon back in the mix. As the white flag signalled the last lap, Cocker had managed to get up in to second, but the Muscle Milk car looked to be cruising to an ALMS win. Turn by turn the Drayson Racing car closed on the Porsche as Graf was conserving fuel and was then held up in traffic. Then on the penultimate turn of the last lap, Cocker managed to squeeze past Graf taking victory by 1.051 seconds. Amazingly the Drayson Racing car clawed back a deficit of 6.295 seconds to the Porsche on that last lap to claim a first outright victory for the team.

After the race Jonny Cocker reflected on the win; “The last few laps of the race were just as exciting in the car as I am sure they were from the outside. An incredible feeling to be lucky enough to have a car underneath me that was capable of winning the race. When I saw Klaus in the distance on the last lap I never expected to be able to catch up fast enough. He was unlucky with a bit of traffic and I was pushing absolutely flat out. I managed to make a move into Turn 13. I was not going to do anything to lose us second-place but I was not going to pass up the opportunity on that move.”

Billed as the first showdown of the year between Audi and Peugeot, and as a full practice for the Le Mans 24 hours by most competitors, the Le Mans Series race at Spa turned out to be more of a farce than a race at times.

Even before the race had properly begun, the Audi R15 TDI driven by Andre Lotterer had spun-off on the warm-up lap and hit the wall at Les Combes; An inauspicious start.

With rain beginning to fall on parts of the track the race began as the safety car pulled in, but at the first corner the number 3 Peugeot overshot and found itself a long way back in the 50 car field. This event was swiftly eclipsed when the Racing Box Lola crashed at Eau Rouge resulting in damage to the car and debris on the track. The safety car returned.

By lap 4 everyone was racing again, however an over ambitious move from one of the Rebellion Lolas sent Olivier Panis in the Oreca Peugeot spinning in to the wall, effectively ending their race.

The much hyped Audi – Peugeot battle began to warm up around 10 laps in with McNish taking the number 7 Audi ahead of the number 3 Peugeot at Eau Rouge, but the safety car returned again after a collision between the Ginetta-Zytek of Bruichladdich and JMW Aston Martin Vantage resulting in the former hitting a wall near Bus Stop.

2 hours in to the race, just when the teams were settling in to their pit stop routines a power cut hit the whole circuit after a lightning strike nearby. After 30 minutes running on the reserve battery, that also failed leaving the paddock & pit lane in darkness and the timing systems blank. As a result the race was temporarily stopped.

After 45 minutes of confusion and much running about by the race organisers the power returned and approaching half-way in the now 6 hours race Audi was at the head of the field closely pursued by two Peugeots.

The next car forced to retire was one of the Rebellion Racing’s Lolas. An overheating gearbox causing them to pull up at the side of the track. They were swiftly followed by Strakka Racing who’s collision with the barrier damaged the exact same area that they previously damaged in the warm up. A lack of spare parts forced them to join the list of retirements.

The Lola of KSM began the day celebrating their call up to the Le Mans 24 Hours from the reserve list, but they had to retire early having been pushed to safety by the marshalls on track.

Three quarters in to the race and Peugeot took the outright lead with Sebastien Bourdais behind the wheel of the number 3 car. They were soon to make it a 1 -2 as Anthony Davidson took his Peugeot past the Audi of Dindo Capello. The Audi cars were quick in the straight with a low down force set up similar to that used at Le Mans. The Peugeots showed better speed in the corners as they were using a higher down force set up similar to the one they used successfully at Sebring earlier this year.

At the beginning of the final hour the safety car returned when the Aston Martin DBR9 piloted by Christof Nygaard spun in to the barrier. This nasty accident caused major damage to the front of the car and doctors were called to remove Nygaard from the remains of the vehicle. Fortunately the injuries sustained were only minor.

And so with 40 minutes of the race left the green flag was waved again setting up a sprint for the chequered flag. However, in keeping with the rest of the race, drivers struggled to keep their cars on the track, as the rain returned once more.

Despite the number 1 Peugeot becoming acquainted with the tyres at Rivage, the Peugeot team were happy again, when their number 2 car managed to pass the Audi out of the bus stop to regain the first 2 places.

And so, after a more than eventful race, including 139 laps of the famous Spa Francorchamps circuit, Peugeot took the chequered flag with a 1 -2, with Audi just 90 seconds behind in 3rd.

Elsewhere, the LMP2 honours were taken by the reigning champions Quifel-ASM ahead of the RML team. In GT1 team Matech completed a clean sweep with their 3 Ford GTs, and in GT2 the Porsche of Team Felbermayr-Proton held off the Ferrari of AF Corse to claim the top step on the podium.

All these competitions now move on to the big one; The Le Mans 24 Hours.

The traditional Le Mans 24 Hours curtain-raiser, the 12 Hours of Sebring, took place in Florida on Saturday (20th March 2010). Alexander Wurz brought the Peugeot 908 diesel home for overall victory. Team-mates Marc Gene & Anthony Davidson were relatively untroubled with only the second Peugeot piloted by Sebastian Bourdais, Nicolas Minassian and Pedro Lamy pushing them close near the end. Gene and Wurz were teammates for Peugeot’s historic victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours last June.

The two Lolas of Aston Martin Racing and Drayson Racing provided Peugeot’s biggest challenge in the early stages. The Drayson Lola proved quick early on with Emanuele Pirro producing a magnificent passing manoeuvre to split the 2 Peugeots in the early stages . Sadly time in the pits with alternator issues curtailed the Drayson team challenge, but Aston Martin with drivers Adrian Fernandez, Harold Primat and Stefan Mücke continued to take third place.

Greg Pickett, Klaus Graf and Sascha Maassen won the LMP2 class for Muscle Milk Team CytoSport. Their Porsche RS Spyder won by three laps from Patrón Highcroft Racing (drivers David Brabham, Simon Pagenaud and Marino Franchitti) which had held the lead until an electrical problem meant they were overtaken whilst in the pit lane. Chris Dyson, Guy Smith and Andy Meyrick finished a creditable third place in LMP2 with their isobutanol-powered Lola B09/86-Mazda. Their race was hampered by technical problems in the first few hours but finished strongly.

The red Ferrari F430 GT of Risi Competizione, driven by Jaime Melo, Gimmi Bruni and Pierre Kaffer, won in the GT2 class. Risi took a one-lap victory ahead of BMW Rahal Letterman Racing’s two BMW M3s. The GT2 class was action packed throughout the 12 hours. The Team Falken Porsche started at the front but managed to lose two wheels around the track on consecutive laps. The second lost wheel made impact with the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche, who were running second at the time, causing them to pit and lose three laps to the rest of the competition. Elsewhere the two Corvettes managed to commit racing suicide by colliding in the pit lane.

The Sebring circuit was packed with spectators on the infield throughout the 12 hours, enjoying the unbroken Florida sunshine and the excellent commentary provided by the team at Radio Le Mans. Podcasts are available to download atwww.radiolemans.com. Travel & tickets for next year’s 12 hours of Sebring will be offered via the Radio Le Mans Travel Club on this website. For more details please click on the Radio Le Mans logo above, or register your details with info@traveldestinations.co.uk

The Autosport International Show, 14th – 17th January 2010

Come and meet the Travel Destinations team at the Autosport International show at the NEC in Birmingham from the 14th – 17th January 2010.

The Travel Destinations team and some special guests will be on stand 6610, in Hall 6 for the duration of the show and will be available to answer your Le Mans questions and help you make the most of your time at Le Mans this year. If you haven’t already booked then you will be able to discuss your requirements with our knowledgeable staff.

The new Travel Destinations 2010 brochure will be available, so make sure you pop by and pick up a copy.

Autosport International brings the fans of motorsport closer to the cars and stars they love than any other event. Marvel at all the current F1 cars on the F1 Racing Grid, see the latest rally machines on the Rally Display. As always, there will be several show features showing some of the rarest and impressive racing cars around.The Autosport Central Stage hosts some of the sport’s biggest names, including Le Mans veteran Alan McNish.

Book your tickets for the Autosport International by clicking here.

Travel Destination’s 2010 Tours & Events brochure is now available, following its launch at the Classic Motor Show. As well as the Le Mans 24 hours & the Le Mans Classic, the brochure features events such as the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Monaco Historic Grand Prix, Angouleme Circuit des Remparts & the Six Hours of Spa.

Photo (from Left to Right) Gautier Rossignol (Le Mans Classic), Richard Webb (Travel Destinations) John Hindhaugh (Radio Le Mans)

The new brochure was launched at the Classic Motor Show on the Travel Destinations stand. Staff members Andrew Melley & Richard Webb were joined by guests John Hindhaugh, from Radio Le Mans, and Gautier Rossignol from Le Mans Classic. Also present were our Le Mans Photographer, Dave Davies and chateau campsite managers Tony Flint and Jonathan Rowe.

Photo (from left to right) Andrew Melley (Travel Destinations) shows the new brochure to John Hindhaugh (Radio Le Mans).

On first seeing the brochure John, who is widely regarded as the voice of Le Mans, commented “What a great brochure! Really Excellent. I particularly like the page on Radio Le Mans.” Gautier said “Travel Destinations is my favourite company. I really enjoy working with them.”

If you would like to receive a copy of the brochure please call (0844) 873 0203 and leave your name and address. Alternatively come and visit the Travel Destinations stand at the Autosport Show at the NEC in Birmingham from the 14th – 17th January 2010.

The new Travel Destinations 2010 Tours & Events brochure will be launched this Friday at the Classic Motor Show at the NEC in Birmingham. The brochure features all of the different packages available for the Le Mans 24 hours and the Le Mans Classic in 2010.

In addition to Le Mans there are also special offers for Daytona, Angouleme & the 6 hours of Spa.

To order your copy of the new Travel Destinations 2010 Tours and Events Brochure please call us on (0844) 873 0203 and we will be happy to post one to you.  Alternatively please come and say hello at the Travel Destinations stand in Hall 4 of the NEC at the Classic Motor Show between the 13th & 15th November.

The Classic Motor Show is all about bringing together people who share a passion for cars. Every year this traditional ‘season grand finale’ for the classic car scene attracts many tens of thousands of enthusiasts from all over the UK, Europe and even further away.

The show celebrates all ages, marques and models. The veteran, the vintage, the classic and the future classic, with a huge and diverse display of 1000 cars ranging from the most accessible popular classics through to the thoroughly outrageous and rare exotica. The Classic Motor Show brings together the whole motoring spectrum in this unique annual celebration of the car. Along with the huge car displays, the show hosts the biggest single gathering of UK companies and traders offering every conceivable product and service to the classic car owner/enthusiast plus some superb and unique show features.

To find out more about the Classic Motor Show or to obtain tickets visit www.necclassicmotorshow.com

The new Travel Destinations 2010 Tours & Events brochure will be launched this Friday at the Classic Motor Show at the NEC in Birmingham. The brochure features all of the different packages available for the Le Mans 24 hours and the Le Mans Classic in 2010.

In addition to Le Mans there are also special offers for Daytona, Angouleme & the 6 hours of Spa.

To order your copy of the new Travel Destinations 2010 Tours and Events Brochure please call us on (0844) 873 0203 and we will be happy to post one to you. Alternatively please come and say hello at the Travel Destinations stand in Hall 4 of the NEC at the Classic Motor Show between the 13th & 15th November.

The Classic Motor Show is all about bringing together people who share a passion for cars. Every year this traditional ‘season grand finale’ for the classic car scene attracts many tens of thousands of enthusiasts from all over the UK, Europe and even further away.

The show celebrates all ages, marques and models. The veteran, the vintage, the classic and the future classic, with a huge and diverse display of 1000 cars ranging from the most accessible popular classics through to the thoroughly outrageous and rare exotica. The Classic Motor Show brings together the whole motoring spectrum in this unique annual celebration of the car. Along with the huge car displays, the show hosts the biggest single gathering of UK companies and traders offering every conceivable product and service to the classic car owner/enthusiast plus some superb and unique show features.

To find out more about the Classic Motor Show or to obtain tickets visit www.necclassicmotorshow.com