Regulatory changes in Group C of the World Sportscar Championship opened the door for Peugeot to reintroduce himself to the legendary French competition at Le Mans.
The FIA decided to ban turbocharged engines as in Formula 1. In fact, the goal was to get the brands participating in Group C of the World Championship to encourage them to make the leap to F1 to enrich the maximum category of monopods.
Peugeot began the project with the development of a completely new engine. Thus emerged the SA35-A1, one of the first engines of the V10 era that later reached Formula 1. The Peugeot SA35-A1 impeller had 10 cylinders in V at 80º, 3,499 cm3 of cylinder capacity and was made of lightweight alloy. With a double overhead camshaft scheme and 4 valves per cylinder, this engine represented the future of FIA competition.
The approximately 600 hp V10 (initially) and its 6-speed gearbox (cross-sectional with linear selection) were mounted on a carbon fiber monocoque chassis developed by engineering firm Dassault Aerospace. That chassis was very similar to that of contemporary F1 cars, very advanced even among the prototypes of the FIA Championship.
Other features that made the Peugeot 905 so successful are its low weight of just 750 kg, the clutch: carbon tridisk, carbon vented disc brakes and tyres specially developed by Michelin. The 905 dimensions are 4.800 mm long, 2.800 mm between axles, 1.960 mm wide and 1.040 mm high.
The bodywork featured a front sector with design features very similar to those of the Peugeot street of that time, especially the triangular and elongated headlights plus the small central grille with the lion logo.
In 1990, the Peugeot 905 was officially unveiled at the circuit of Magny Cours, France. After rapid development, the French brand decided to venture into the two final competitions of the 1990 championship to evaluate the prototype designed. The debut was in the 480 Km of Montreal, where drivers Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Keke Rosberg, both former F1, could not show off. The Peugeot 905 EV12 must have left after just 22 laps due to a fuel pump failure.
The 1991 season was to be much more encouraging for Peugeot, which had the advantage of a prototype specially developed for the new regulation. The Peugeot 905 EV15 won the victory in its first race, in the 430 Km of Suzuka, defeating the already established Sauber Mercedes and Porsche 962 .
The next race took place in Monza, where the Jaguar XJR-14 of the TWR team proved to be much faster and took the first two places. The 905 piloted by Mauro Baldi and Philippe Alliot arrived in eighth position.
In the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1991 Peugeot failed unexpectedly. The two 905 presented were fast in qualifying but left in 3 and 7 hours of competition due to mechanical problems. The first left due to engine problems and the second after the transmission failure. The race was won by the Mazda 787B. Then continued the dominance of Jaguar, until on the sixth date of the championship Peugeot would return to give battle.
Peugeot continued to improve the car and developed a version called “Evolution 1 Bis”. Except for the chassis, almost all components of the prototype were revised and in many cases redesigned. The most visible aspect of the new development was in the body, which left aside the aesthetics associated with the brand to incorporate much more functional aerodynamic solutions.
The rear spoiler was resized. Even for very jammed circuits and demanding heavy aerodynamic loads, A new and immense spoiler could be added to the tail of the car. The engine was also optimized and rebranded SA35-A2, now obtaining an additional 20 hp. This cche did not win in its debut but did show a remarkable improvement.
In his second race, the Peugeot 905 Evo 1 Bis EV14 driven by Keke Rosberg and Yannick Dalmas won the 430 Km of Magny Cours, escorted by the other Peugeot 905 Evo 1 Bis EV15 with Mauro Baldi and Philippe Alliot behind the wheel. The same result was repeated in the following competition: the 430 km of Mexico.
At the end of the 1991 season Peugeot managed to place himself in a worthy 2nd place in the standings, behind the new Jaguar champion and ahead of former champion Sauber Mercedes.
The outstanding regulatory changes were implemented in 1992 when Sauber, Jaguar and Porsche 962 ceased to participate. Peugeot was the main exponent of the category, followed by the competitive Toyota TS010.
The 1992 championship began with a win for Toyota in Monza. Then the Peugeot 905 Evo 1 Bis won the remaining five races, including the long-awaited Le Mans competition. There, the winning Peugeot had 680 hp and had as drivers Derek Warwick, Yannick Dalmas and Mark Blundell; who defeated the Toyota TS010 by 6 laps apart.
The Peugeot 905 Evo 1 Bis won the 1992 Championship with a wide margin. Peugeot was already working on the development of the Peugeot 905 Evo 2 when the FIA announced the suspension of the 1993 World Sport Car Championship. Even so, they did run the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1993, totally dominated by the Peugeot 905 Evo 1C that took the top three places.
Then, with no championship to participate, Peugeot became a supplier of engines for the McLaren F1 team in 1994.
© Adrián Blanco 2007 - No full or partial reproduction of text and/or images without explicit written consent of the author. —
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