After years of Audi being the king at le Mans 24 hour race Peugeot has finally done it. Years ago when Peugeot was sold in the U.S. it was a problem child car. As were all the cars from Europe, but you should see them now. They all build great cars and in lots of ways they are miles ahead of the American brands.
This year's winning drivers were David Brabham, Marc Gene and Alexander Wurz. Brabham, a former Formula One driver and son of triple Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham. A personal favorite in his era. Gene, a former Formula One driver and a test driver of choice for several teams. Wurz, also a former Formula One driver, son of three time rallycross driver Franz Wurz and currently test driver for the new Brawn GP team that is taking Formula One by storm this year. Because of all the disenchantment in Formula One this year they say that the Le Mans group is courting those teams.
Americans Phil Hill, Masten Gregory, Carroll Shelby, Luigi Chinetti, Davy Jones (with Alexander Wurz), Hurley Haywood, Price Cobb, Al Holbert, Bill and Don Whittington. Most were multiple winner and Chinetti won in 1932 and 1934 as an Italian. Became a U.S. citizen in 1946 and won as an American in 1949.
The only full American team was in 1967 with Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt driving a Ford GT-40 from a team belonging to Carroll Shelby. Gurney, a great Formula One driver, designer and team owner in F1, sprayed Foyt with champagne at the end of the race. As we all know it became a tradition that we see at the end of races today.
