2011 PEUGEOT 908 HDI V8

Unregistered
Chassis n° 908-07

• Final version of the 908
• Winner of the 6 Hours of Zhuhai (Bourdais/Davidson)
• The model which dominated the entire 2011 season

The car we are presenting is the last Peugeot to have won a race in the World Constructors’ Championship. It represents the ultimate development of the 908 models which left their mark on endurance racing from 2007 to 2011. To understand the importance of this 908-07, we need to go back a little.
Not since the victories of Renault in 1978 and Rondeau in 1980 had a French make won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, far less the World Endurance Championship. Peugeot, which was very active in rallying but far less so on track, decided to pick up the gauntlet thanks to a change in the regulations, and unveiled the 905 in 1990. With a 3.5-litre V10 engine and a carbon-fibre bodyshell designed with Dassault Aviation, the prototype immediately showed that it was equal to the best, but it needed to be more reliable. Under the direction of Jean Todt, the Peugeot team came close to success in 1991, but it was in 1992 and 1993 that its hard work really paid off, with two wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and, in 1993, all three places on the podium.
In 1992, it also won the World Sportscar Championship.

It would be the 2000s before Peugeot returned to endurance racing. The new regulations opened the door to diesel engines and presented a new challenge of interest to Peugeot: it was one of the leading specialists in this technology and used it widely in its production cars. Success in racing could only have a positive effect on the company’s sales. And so, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2005, Peugeot announced its comeback, followed by the presentation of a full-scale model, designated the 908, at the Paris Motor Show in 2006. Powered by a 5.5-litre twin-turbo V12 diesel, the 908 made a magnificent start to the 2007 season, winning the 1000 Km of Monza, but had to make do at Le Mans with second place (for Bourdais/Lamy/ Sarrazin) behind an Audi R10.
The following year, the car again proved highly competitive, with victories in the 1000 Km races in Catalonia and at Monza, Spa and the Nürburgring, but it was unable to topple Audi at Le Mans. Finally, in 2009 Peugeot once again took first and second place in the legendary race, thanks to Gené/Brabham/ Wurz and Montagny/Bourdais/ Sarrazin.
In 2010, the 908 HDi FAP was at its peak and enjoyed a superb season, winning the Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, as well as many races including the Petit Le Mans and those at Spa, Zhuhai and Silverstone, and in the Algarve. But this success had a bitter taste, as victory escaped Peugeot at Le Mans: although a 908 posted the lap record, the four cars entered had to retire.
In parallel, Peugeot was preparing for the future and for the forthcoming regulations which would allow hybrid diesel/electric powertrains. After showing its ambition in 2008 with a 908 hybrid prototype at Silverstone, the following year, after Le Mans, Peugeot began the development of a new car initially known as ‘90X’. The first 90X prototype was unveiled at the end of 2010, with its sights set on victory at Le Mans in 2011 and a hybrid version to come the year after. Externally, the 90X differed from its predecessor in terms of its streamlined shape and aerodynamic features, and in January 2011, it also officially became known as the 908. Peugeot abandoned the earlier V12 engine in favour of a turbocharged 3.7-litre V8 diesel producing 550bhp, and the car was ready for the 2011 season.
This would be its crowning glory, the car winning six of the seven races in the championship. Unfortunately, the race which enjoyed the most media coverage was the one Peugeot missed out on: the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where one of the 908s lost – by just 14 seconds – to the winning Audi. As a consolation, Peugeot claimed the next three places.
After Le Mans, Peugeot won at Imola, Silverstone and the Petit Le Mans. The final race was held at Zhuhai in China, a huge market where the stakes were high for the company. Peugeot entered two new 908s: 908-07 for Sébastien Bourdais and Anthony Davidson, and 907-08 for Franck Montagny and Stéphane Sarrazin. After starting in pole position, Bourdais and Davidson’s car won the 6 Hours of Zhuhai.
For internal reasons, Peugeot decided at this point to withdraw from the World Endurance Championship and was unable to take advantage of the experience it had built up over five years with its hybrid prototypes. Its victory at Zhuhai was therefore the last in a tremendous series, the final stage in the development of the 908 and the result of considerable efforts to reach the highest level. Sophisticated in terms of both its engineering and its aerodynamics, the winning car (908-07) was the perfect incarnation of this success. Moreover, it won the only race in which it competed, an extremely rare occurrence. For all these reasons, it represents an important milestone in the history of endurance racing and of motorsport as a whole. Acquired directly from Peugeot by its current owner, the car has not been raced for the past seven years and will therefore need to be serviced before taking to the track to win again

Photo © Kevin Van Campenhout

The auction of this lot will take place on Friday 18 March 2022.
https://www.artcurial.com/fr/lot-2011-peugeot-908-hdi-v8-4134-209