Pescarolo delighted by Peugeot deal

Henri Pescarolo admits it was a pleasant surprise to be given the chance to run a Peugeot 908 HDi in the 2009 running of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Thursday's announcement of the lucky 55 entrants for this summers race revealed that the French privateer squad had agreed a deal that will see it run a single Peugeot 908 HDi alongside its own Judd-powered Pescarolo.

The deal itself came as something of a surprise with Pescarolo having been outspoken in his views on the diesel cars in recent seasons but he said he was delighted to have been given the chance to run the car in the biggest sportscar event of them all.

"Sometime ago, just before the closing date for the applications to the 24 Hours, I had the surprise to be offered the possibility to enter a Peugeot 908 under the name of Pescarolo Sport by Oliver Quesnel, the new principal of Peugeot Sport," he said. "For the team, it will be a new and fascinating experience to have one of these very high performance 908 HDi FAP at our disposal.

"I take this opportunity to thank the ACO for inviting us with two different cars."

With development work carried out to the Pescarolo-Judd during the off-season, the team will also hope to fight for honours in the unofficial 'LMP1-petrol' class at La Sarthe.

Drivers for the programme are expected to be announced shortly.