Peugeot Sport’s technical director Bruno Famin tells us that the privately-entered 908 HDi FAP which is contesting this weekend’s Petit Le Mans is chassis number 10, the last one to be made. It is the same car that won at Zhuhai in 2010 before kicking off the 2011 campaign with a surprise victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring in the hands of Oreca.

The French team’s boss Hugues de Chaunac may have seen a long list of race cars come and go in his lifetime, but he is clearly aware of the significance of the occasion. “It’s always a big moment when a car with the 908 HDi FAP’s winning pedigree competes for the last time,” he says. “This is a moving moment for Peugeot and for me, especially after our victory with this car at Sebring in March. Sentimentally, everyone feels very attached to it and it would be great to send it on its way with a podium finish.”

Nicolas Minassian is one of the three drivers entrusted with driving the N°10 Peugeot here at Road Atlanta. “I honestly didn’t think I would ever sit in this car again,” admits the Frenchman, “but I was asked to do Petit Le Mans with Oreca in July. It’s a great car, although obviously not quite as competitive as it used to be. However, you can feel that has matured because it’s so comfortable and easy to drive. I remember lapping in it for the first time at the very beginning of the project; I knew at once it was destined for great things. The whole package then gradually evolved to turn it into a race-winning machine, although it perhaps didn’t secure the record it deserved at Le Mans. I think my best memory with the car was the Interlagos 1000 Miles in 2006. Marc [Gene] and I had a perfect race that day.”

The 908 HDi won 20 of the 29 races in which it took part, including a one-two-three finish at Le Mans in 2009.

Marc Gené, Nicolas Lapierre, Nicolas Minassian, Petit Le Mans 2011, Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Oreca