gene

As Audi races to rebuild the heavily damaged #1 R18, Marc Gene is announced as the replacement for the injured Loic Duval.

Marc Gene: It's always nice to bring F1 close up to the public on this sort of occasion. In this part of the world, the growth in interest in motor sport is visible to the naked eye, partly down to the efforts of major companies like Shell.

Olivier Quesnel paid tribute to his 'warriors' in the #9 car after David Brabham, Marc Gene and Alex Wurz secured victory for Peugeot in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Peugeot has taken a step closer to securing victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours after further problems for rivals Audi left the #9 and #8 cars holding a healthy lead out front.

After the dramatic early morning action at La Sarthe, which saw the Pescarolo Peugeot and the Flying Lizard Porsche both crash out, a period of calm descended on the Le Mans 24 Hours, with Peugeot continuing to lead the way.

Peugeot continues to hold the high ground as the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours prepares to head into the night, but what was a commanding one-two for the home favourites fell apart just under six hours in, when the long-time leader ran into problems that have cost it three laps and five positions.

Peugeot leads the way after the opening three hours of the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours with the diesel-powered 908 HDis occupying the top two positions, but it has been far from a trouble-free start for either the home heroes or arch-rivals and defending race-winners Audi.

Marc Gene has admitted that he felt he could be about to die during his high-speed accident during testing to the Le Mans 24 Hours.

1. Gene/Minassian Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi 1mins 31.528secs LMP1 2. Sarrazin/Lamy Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi 1mins 32.174secs LMP1