Sébastien Bourdais finishes second at the 12 Hours of Sebring

Sébastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso driver, had a promising start to the year on Sunday by finishing second in the 12 Hours of Sebring behind the wheel of the Peugeot 908 HDI.

The only French driver competing in F1 in 2009 will also be behind the wheel of the Peugeot at Le Mans in June, as the legendary 24-hour race falls between the Turkish and British Grand Prix.

The Peugeot endurance team competed in the Sebring race to train for Le Mans and battled for victory with its eternal rival, Audi.

Qualified in 5th position on the grid, the crew led by Franck Montagny at the start, however, had to start from the pits. But gradually catching up with its competitors with a very good pace, the Peugeot came back in contact with the leaders and even took the lead in the race.

A puncture relegated the Peugeot n°8 to one minute behind the leader, but with Bourdais at the wheel, driving aggressively, he made up a large part of his delay before starting the final relay with Montagny. Despite everything, the former Super Aguri driver will not be able to surpass the star driver of the Audi team and former Toyota driver, Allan McNish.

« We were on a really good pace, but ultimately a flat tire cost us the victory, » declared Sébastien Bourdais after the race.

Although the Frenchman was the only F1 starter, Peugeot also had Christian Klien, BMW-Sauber’s reserve driver, on their team. The Austrian finished fifth after a gearbox problem in the last half-hour.