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#1 Peugeot 908 powers through the night at Le Mans - Click above for high-res image gallery
This
year's 24 Hours of Le Mans was shaping up to be a second straight flag-to-flag romp for the Peugeot 908 diesels, right up to the point where they all started dropping like flies. Needless to say, the Peugeot Sport engineers have taken a long, hard look at why all four cars failed to finish - and in the case of three of them, it basically comes down to perfect race conditions leading them to be running too fast.
The first car to go out was the #3 entrant that was built up from the tub that won the 2009 race. After two-and-a-half hours of racing, a suspension mounting point separated from the carbon fiber tub as the result of an undetected structural problem.
The other three cars all went out later in the race with what turned out to be an identical connecting rod failure. A combination of circumstances led to all of the cars running faster this year and putting increased stress on their engines. Not mentioned by Peugeot in its report is the fact that the new Audi R15+ ran considerably faster in 2010, pushing the Peugeots to the limit. At the same time, cool temperatures and a grippy track, blended with air-to-air intercoolers that didn't clog up as much as they did in the past led to more air going into the combustion chamber. More air means more power and an increased load on the pistons - especially late in the race. No doubt Peugeot will be looking to increase its safety margins as the engineers prepare their all-new 2011 challenger.
Gallery: Le Mans 2010: The Race
[Source: Peugeot]
Continue reading Peugeot finishes analysis of four car Le Mans failure. Conclusion? They drove too fast.
Peugeot finishes analysis of four car Le Mans failure. Conclusion? They drove too fast. originally appeared on
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09-07-2010, 12:10 AM
