European Le Mans
Interlagos: Peugeot preview
The 2007 Le Mans Series concludes with the calendar's only non-European fixture which takes the teams to Interlagos, Sao Paulo, for the season's finale on November 10. As it's name implies, the Brazilian race will be particularly long with a total ...
Published: Nov 8, 2007, 10:01 PM
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The 2007 Le Mans Series concludes with the calendar's only non-European fixture which takes the teams to Interlagos, Sao Paulo, for the season's finale on November 10. As it's name implies, the Brazilian race will be particularly long with a total distance of 1,630km. The start will be given at midday and the chequered flag will come down to mark the end of the championship some ten hours later.
Following the gap of almost two months since the penultimate round of the series at Silverstone,Bruno Famin talks about the most recent work that has been done on thePeugeot 908 HDi FAP:
"We have obviously continued to work on perfecting the car's reliability and developing its performance. Interlagos will be an interesting part of our build up to the 2008 Le Mans 24 Hours since the race covers more than 1,600km. Since Silverstone, we have strengthened the louvered vents on the wings since they had a strong tendency to be damaged by rubber being thrown up after being picked up from the track. We have also reinforced the fairing at the extreme rear of the flat bottom which led to the N8 car being forced to retire at Silverstone when the stewards asked us to make repairs with only a few laps remaining.
"We also saw at the recent Formula 1 Grand Prix at Interlagos that the track has been resurfaced. The new asphalt seems to offer little grip, so it promises to be a very challenging race for the drivers and tyres alike."
The outcome of the LMP1 teams' title chase will be decided at Interlagos. Despite the N8 908's retirement at Silverstone, Pedro Lamy/Stephane Sarrazin still top the points table but they are under threat from Pescarolo's Jean Christophe Boullion. The Peugeot enjoys a two-point advantage but, given that there will only be four LMP1 runners in Brazil, only half the points will be awarded (i.e. five points for a win). Peugeot Sport consequently only needs the N8 908 car to come third (3 points) to sew up the 2007 Le Mans Series.
The crew of the N7 908 (Marc Gene/Nicolas Minassian) can only hope to finish second in the series.
STEPHANE SARRAZIN TALKS ABOUT INTERLAGOS:
"I have extremely fond memories of my F1 race at Interlagos with Minardi in 1999. It was my Grand Prix debut and everything went very smoothly. Being on the grid was a magical moment in itself and I was proud to have qualified in 17th place at a time when the Minardis were generally around 20th or even further down the order. I've tended to put the off when my front wing broke through the uphill left-hander behind me, but I can still vividly recall fighting back up to 10th place, just behind Jacques Villeneuve who was driving a BAR. I even had a go at passing him! Funnily enough, my team-mate at Minardi was Marc Gene! It's nice to be going back to Interlagos for the first time since that period. It's a great circuit, although it's technically very challenging, especially the sequence of tight turns behind the paddock. I remember them as though it was yesterday. It could well be a good race for Pedro Limy and me. My objective is to qualify on pole and then put in a steady race that will hopefully enable the team to clinch the 2007 title."
-credit: peugeot.com
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