MOTORSPORT: Sportscar bombshell - Peugeot quits racing

"This decision has been taken in the context of a difficult economic environment in Europe," Peugeot said in a press statement. "Peugeot has chosen to concentrate resources on its sales performance in 2012."

The French company's withdrawal is a huge blow to sportscar racing, with anticipation of another great duel between Peugeot and Audi as well as Toyota's return, Honda participation, McLaren in the GT category - and a new Porsche campaign for outright honours within a couple of years.

Ace Scottish sportscar driver Allan McNish had talked at the recent Autosport International show in Britain of a new golden era dawning for the category.
Peugeot's decision comes in the wake of its declining car sales and France's recent credit downgrading.

PSA, Peugeot's parent company, announced recently that it suffered a 6.1 per cent decline in European sales last year and it expected that trend to continue this year.

While German marque Audi has dominated the Le Mans 24 Hours in recent years, with 10 victories since 2000, Peugeot has been its main rival, running the variants of its diesel 908 prototype and triumphing in the classic French race in 2009 when Australian David Brabham teamed with Austrian Alex Wurz and Spaniard Marc Gene.

After the Peugeot bombshell the ACO - the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, organiser of Le Mans and the new WEC as well as the Dakar Rally and the Tour de France cycling classic - said there was still proof of the "health and dynamism" of sportscar racing.

ACO said that, while it "deeply regrets" Peugeot's sudden exit, the creation of the WEC meant "the future of the discipline promises [to be] more prestigious than ever".

"The grids of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the WEC promise to be well filled. Yesterday was the deadline for WEC entries and numbers will be announced on February 2.

"Many entries have been registered, some from major manufacturers - proof that automobile endurance racing is healthy and dynamic," ACO said.

Jean Todt, the French president of world motorsport's governing body the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and a Peugeot motorsport chief before resurrecting Ferrari in Formula One along with Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn, was more cautious in his comments on Peugeot's withdrawal.

Todt said it was more important than ever for manufacturers to show commitment to motorsport in tough economic times.

"To lose such a strong player like Peugeot is bad news, indicating what a tough period the automotive industry is going through, and this group in particular," he said.

"I believe that it is especially true that in tough times one should find ways of expressing full commitment, rather than pulling out.

"But we can only respect their choice and hope that they can come back soon at the highest level of motorsport."

Meanwhile, the Citroen world rally championship team's new principal Yves Matton confirmed that French company's continued participation in the WRC in the wake of PSA stablemate Peugeot's sportscar decision.

Matton gathered Citroen team members around him during the early stages of this week's Monte Carlo Rally to reassure them about the future: "I see everybody from the team this afternoon to tell them I have confirmation from Mr [Frederic] Banzet, the manager of the [Citroen] brand, that our program continues and we have guarantees to be here in the future," Matton was quoted by Autosport saying.

Matton said the recent driver contracts Citroen had signed were proof of its commitment. "The best proof is that we sign two years with Mikko [Hirvonen, the Finn recruited from Ford], three years with Nasser Al-Attiyah [Qatar's Dakar specialist and 2011 winner of that marathon rally in South America], with an option for two more.

"We are there for the future and we will stay after Sebastien Loeb [WRC world champion the past eight years] retires. If we were not staying after Sebastien Loeb, what would be the point to have a young driver like Thierry Neuville signed now? We are staying."

We reported here yesterday that testing of the new Toyota petrol-electric coupe (that will take the Japanese manufacturer back to Le Mans) had begun.

It was shaken down at French circuit Paul Ricard this month by the three drivers who will drive the Japanese giant's sole entry – Alex Wurz, Frenchman Nicolas Lapierre (a prolific winner in the now-defunct A1 GP open-wheeler series, including at Sydney's Eastern Creek) and Japan's Kazuki Nakajima.

Toyota will only contest selected rounds of the WEC this year, with its debut expected at the Spa Six-Hour in Belgium in early May - just weeks before Le Mans.

The WEC is the first long distance sports car series to have world title status since the demise of the World Sportscar Championship at the end of 1992.
 
The eight-round series starts with the Sebring 12-Hour race in Florida in mid-March, followed by the Spa Six-Hour in Belgium in early May, then Le Mans in mid-June. The the remaining rounds are scheduled in Britain, Brazil, Bahrain, Japan and China.

Allan McNish, who previously raced for Toyota in sports cars and then F1 and is now part of the awesome Audi line-up, predicted at Autosport International that the WEC signaled a new era of glory for sports car racing. McNish said there were 64 entries for Sebring, almost double the 33 on the grid there three years ago.

"Toyota [returning, although not at Sebring] is superb news," he said.

"I drove for them the last time they were in sportscars and then in F1, and they'll be very keen to bring this [series] title – and Le Mans – back to Japan. Audi and Peugeot want it too of course, and then you have Honda coming in with the HPD [Honda Performance Development and a driver line-up including David Brabham].

"It's setting up to be a new glory years for sportcars, with four manufacturers in LMP1 and droves of cars in GT, including McLaren.

"The thing that brings it all together is the WEC. As a driver you always want to fight for the biggest prize, and now you have that title.

"If you look at it in 2008 we [Audi] beat Peugeot by six seconds at Petit [Le Mans], by 13 seconds at Sebring in 2009, and again by 13 seconds at Le Mans. That's less than 0.1 seconds per lap over the distance.

"That is how competitive it is. If you wait four times [behind traffic] you've lost Le Mans.

"The maximum speed difference between [Audi and Peugeot at Le Mans last year] was about one tenth of a second. If you slip up once it's gone – but you also have to be on the attack all the time or it's gone as well.

"The [Japanese] manufacturers coming in have really extended the boundaries of what we call the norm, and I'm really looking forward to further big steps at the front in the next few years."

McNish, who survived a 250mh crash at Le Mans last year with only a graze, said the bigger grids would create traffic problems – and accidents would be inevitable.

Before the WEC even gets underway there has already been a huge crash with today's stunning news from Peugeot.

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