The Motor Sport Month - Sports Car News

FIA investigates after second Peugeot flip
The latest accident in which one of the new Peugeot 908 HDis became airborne is now being investigated by the FIA.
Nicolas Minassian flipped during testing at Paul Ricard in February, the second time that the second-generation 908 turbodiesel has taken off. That has resulted in a meeting between Peugeot, the FIA and the Le Mans-organising Automobile Club de l’Ouest.

FIA technical consultant Peter Wright, who oversaw the aerodynamic study that resulted in the introduction of the ‘shark fin’ on all new prototypes for 2011, explained that the governing body had become involved because it had blanket responsibility for safety in motor sport. He explained that the FIA was now examining data from the incident and that there would be no action taken before a thorough examination was complete.

Peugeot has revealed that the first accident, in which Marc Gene took off at the MotorLand Aragon circuit in Spain, was the result of a rear wishbone failure. Peugeot Sport technical director Bruno Famin insisted that Minassian’s accident was a result of the “driver losing the car”.

The Peugeots have taken off despite the introduction of the shark fin. These are designed to cut down on aerial accidents by raising the take-off speed.

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Le Mans Lotus tested
The car that will take Lotus back to the Le Mans 24 Hours has broken cover.
The new GTE class Evora (above), developed in conjunction with Dallara and Ycom in Italy, was put through its paces at Hethel and then Snetterton by James Rossiter and Johnny Mowlem ahead of its handover to the Austrian Jetalliance team, which will field two cars at Le Mans.