Peugeot 908HY news - Le Mans gets hy' - 2008

After narrowly missing out on Le Mans victory this year, Peugeot has unveiled its new weapon for victory in 2009: electricity.

Well, hybrid power at least. This is the 908HY, a diesel-electric version of Peugeot's Le Mans racer that could feature in next year's 24-hour race... if regulations allow.

The hybrid system is similar to the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) that we'll see in F1 next year: energy is recovered from braking and stored in 10 lithium-ion battery packs to be deployed strategically during the race.

Which means that the 908HY can function in three ways - standard diesel power only, full electric mode - though we'll probably only see that in the pit lane - or in full hybrid mode.

Peugeot reckons that, in the course of a Le Mans lap, the system will be able to recover energy for between 20 and 30 seconds a lap.

That'll allow the driver to release an additional boost of around 80bhp for about 20 seconds of a lap - handy for overtaking - or to reduce fuel consumption by as much as five per cent for the equivalent performance.

Promising stuff, though there's no word on how the extra weight of the batteries will affect the 908's handling.

So will we see it at Le Mans? Peugeot's hopeful. "Whether we use this technology or not in 2009 will obviously depend on the details of the new regulations published by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest," says Michel Barge, director of Peugeot Sport.

With hybrid systems the new flavour of the month in motorsport - and the chance of a home victory at Le Mans - we're hopeful the 908HY will hit the Mulsanne Straight next year.