Peugeot dominates at Le Mans

Peugeot was still leading at the 24 Hours of Le Mans after nine hours on Saturday despite losing one of its cars and reliability concerns.

After dominating the qualifying to monopolize the four top spots on the starting grid, the French manufacturer’s cars looked set to secure a second straight victory at the showcase event.

But the Peugeot 908 HDI of former Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais, which had started from pole, retired because of suspension damage after less than three hours.

The Peugeot driven by Marc Gene, Alexander Wurz and Anthony Davidson then had to pit for 12 minutes with electric problems and subsequently dropped from first to seventh place.

Gene, however, started a phenomenal comeback and moved back to fifth after posting the best lap in 3 minutes, 19.644 seconds just before midnight.

“Now I’m gonna drive every single lap like in qualifying,” Davidson said.

After nine hours, the Peugeot cars were holding the first two spots at the 13.6-kilometer (8.4-mile) Circuit de la Sarthe, with Franck Montagny leading Nicolas Lapierre in the non-factory team Oreca’s Peugeot by one lap.

In an Audi, Timo Bernhard was third, 1:54.072 behind.

Peugeot ended Audi’s five-year domination at Le Mans last year when it claimed its first win since 1993.

Audi suffered a serious setback during the fifth hour when Tom Kristensen went off while trying to pass a BMW driven by Andy Priaulx.

Kristensen, the most successful driver at Le Mans with eight wins, slid off into the gravel and hit the barriers. He returned to the pits and the car continued the race but lost three laps to the race leaders.

“There is just damage to the wing base and engine cover,” said Audi boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “We hope that the car is otherwise OK.”

Just 18 minutes into the race, former Formula One world champion Nigel Mansell crashed.

Mansell spun in his Ginetta-Zytek and hit the security barrier before the Indianapolis turn. He spent several minutes in his car but was conscious when he was evacuated in an ambulance. Organizers later said he was in a good condition.

Mansell was taken to the circuit’s medical center and escaped “with a bump on the head,” according to organizers.

The 56-year-old British driver was racing for the first time at Le Mans, with his sons Greg and Leo. Mansell won the F1 title in 1992.

“He’s having some extra checks. He took a bit of a knock but he should be fine,” Greg Mansell told Eurosport.

Peugeot took an early lead with its cars holding onto the four top positions before the safety cars entered. The race was neutralized for about half an hour then Frenchman Franck Montagny moved into first place in the a Peugeot 908 HDI when Pedro Lamy pitted for the first time in his Peugeot.

Peugeot’s hopes of a clean sweep were dashed when Lamy had to retire because of suspension damage after less than three hours of racing.