Peugeot revels in national pride

French carmaker Peugeot is to re-energise its aggressive advertising campaign in New Zealand after its win in the Le Mans 24-hour race, where it ended Audi's five-year domination of the event.

Peugeot NZ general manager Simon Rose said it was a weekend of celebration for the French. "A first and second at Le Mans for Peugeot and a win for France over the All Blacks ...

"When you win an event like Le Mans it makes logical sense to leverage it in any way you can and that's exactly what we will be doing.

"Clean-burning diesels are the way of the future for Peugeot and important motorsport wins like this give us a great platform for marketing our entire Peugeot passenger range in New Zealand."

Spain's Marc Gene, Australia's David Brabham and Austria's Alexander Wurz drove their diesel-powered Peugeot No9 car to victory in the annual event.

The trio completed 382 laps, one lap more than the Peugeot No8 car driven by Frenchmen Sebastien Bourdais, Franck Montagny and Stephane Sarrazin.

Audi's Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen were third, six laps away, in their diesel-powered racers. Underdogs Aston Martin, celebrating the 50th anniversary of their first Le Mans victory, were fourth, nine laps off the pace.

Peugeot has been at the forefront of diesel technology for 20-odd years in Europe. But it's only been over the past few years in New Zealand that buyers have cottoned to the many benefits of diesel performance.

"For the last three years, 50 per cent of our sales have been in diesel, a figure we expect to grow as high as 70 per cent with the arrival of new models like the four-wheel-drive Peugeot 4007," said Rose.

"We are behind diesel technology that much, we didn't consider importing a petrol version of our latest model, the 308 coupe/convertible. The win at Le Mans is perfect timing for us."

It was also perfect timing for British-born Brabham, the son of three-time Formula One champion Sir Jack Brabham, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his father's first Formula One title in 1959.

"It's a magical feeling to finally win Le Mans. We had a perfect race, no problems whatsoever," Brabham said.

He succeeded his elder brother Geoff, who was at the wheel of the winning Peugeot 905 16 years ago.

"I would have had my brother still saying that he is the only one in the family to have won Le Mans, so I'm glad to have gotten that opportunity."

Peugeot says its race team won Le Mans through a mix of teamwork, compromise and exchange of information.

"In Formula One, you say, 'I hope my teammate really screws up'," said Gene.

"You never think that in Le Mans - there is a real team spirit that you don't find anywhere else."

One crucial compromise is the one drivers least like to make: changing the steering-wheel size, seating position and car setup. Take the driver's seat, for instance. Wurz, who won Le Mans in a Porsche in 1996, is 1.85m tall. Gene and Brabham are shorter. Seats are fitted for the tallest driver and then customised with a moulded foam insert to adapt to the smaller teammates.

The insert is fitted into the seat in a few seconds when the drivers switch.

Says Gene: "You learn how good a driver is in putting themselves in someone else's place and coming up with a compromise."