No. 1 Peugeot 905 on display at the 2014Geneva International Motor Show | |||||||
| Category | Group C | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Designer | André de CortanzeEnrique Scalabroni | ||||||
| Production | 1990-1993 | ||||||
| Successor | Peugeot 908 HDi FAP | ||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||
| Engine | SA35-A1 3,499 cc (213.5 cu in) V10 naturally aspirated | ||||||
| Transmission | 6-speedsequential manual | ||||||
| Competition history | |||||||
| Notable entrants | |||||||
| Notable drivers | |||||||
| Debut | 1991 430 km of Suzuka | ||||||
| First win | 1991 430 km of Suzuka | ||||||
| Last win | 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans | ||||||
| Last event | 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans | ||||||
| |||||||
| Constructors' Championships | 1(1992) | ||||||
| Drivers' Championships | 1(1992) | ||||||
ThePeugeot 905 is asports-prototype racing car built byPeugeot's racing department,Peugeot Talbot Sport, in the late 1980s after Peugeot had won theRallye World Championships in 1985 and 1986 and the Turbocharged AWD Group B cars got banned for the WRC 1987, with Peugeot switching to other offroad events, like the Dakar, in the meantime.
The sportscar was initially unveiled in February 1990 and was developed not for Group C, but the new 1991 set of rules that were closer to F1 tech. It made its race debut in the final two races of the1990 World Sportscar Championship (1990 480 km of Montreal and1990 480 km of Mexico City). The Peugeot 905 participated in 17 races in its career, winning 9 of them.
The car won the24 Hours of Le Mansendurance race in1992 with the team ofDerek Warwick,Yannick Dalmas, andMark Blundell. This win was followed in1993 by the team ofGeoff Brabham,Christophe Bouchut, andÉric Hélary, in the 905B. In addition to that, the car won both the driver’s and the team’s title at theWorld Sportscar Championship in the1992 season.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
In November 1988Peugeot Talbot Sport, established under the control ofJean Todt atVélizy-Villacoublay, in the suburbs ofParis,[11] announced the launch of the 905 project to compete in the1991 World Sportscar Championship using the new rules which the 1991 season would introduce.
Technically advanced, the 905 used a carbon fiber chassis engineered byDassault and a light alloySA35-A1 3499 cc naturally aspirated V10 engine that was similar to F1 engines of the time. The 905 was built at Vélizy-Villacoublay[12] and was officially unveiled on the 4th of July 1990 at theCircuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, withJean-Pierre Jabouille driving.
The car made its racing debut in the final two races of the1990 season with Jabouille andKeke Rosberg sharing the wheel. Although the car was slower than the contemporaryGroup C Sports Prototypes, it was notably quicker than the other 3.5 litre Sports-Prototypes which raced in that season.
The 905 began its first full season in the World Sportscar Championship in 1991. Although the car was now quicker than the 1990 version, and indeed the heavily penalised Group C cars that were allowed to race, in the early part of the season the 905 suffered some performance and reliability problems but, more crucially for Peugeot, the car was a lot slower than the standard-settingJaguar XJR-14 - a car that was able to match the lap times of most contemporary F1 cars[citation needed] (but not those of top cars such the Williams-Renault and McLaren-Honda cars that were at least 2 to 3 seconds faster per lap).
The car was, however, able to obtain a lucky win at theSuzuka Circuit. Unfortunately, at the1991 24 Hours of Le Mans, both cars entered did not last past the four-hour mark.
To counterJaguar in the remaining races of the championship the 905 was heavily revised, primarily inaerodynamics. Carrying over only the cockpit of the previous car, the evolutionary 905B was created. With the more notable changes consisting of a two-tier rear wing and an optional full-width front wing, including a more powerfulSA35-A2 engine, the 905B made its race debut at theNürburgring round of the 1991 series. These advancements allowed the team to finish the year winning at Magny-Cours andMexico with back-to-back 1-2 wins, thus completing the season in second place overall.
The 905B became one of only two factory efforts involved in the1992 World Sportscar Championship season alongsideToyota, who were competing in their first season under the 3.5-litre regulations using theTS010. This meant that only the1992 24 Hours of Le Mans showed a strong competition among the Group C cars. The 905B was successful, bringing 2 of the team's 3 cars home in 1st and 3rd overall.

For 1993, the World Sportscar Championship ceased to exist but were permitted to run at Le Mans in 1993 and 1994. However, prior to the announcement of its cancellation, Peugeot had begun the development of the 905 Evolution 2 to compete in the 1993 season. This car, which was tested for a few laps in practice at the final race of the 1992 season atMagny-Cours was never finished, leaving Peugeot to concentrate solely on1993 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Evo 1B. They were able to make a historic win by sweeping the first three positions. Following this dominance, Peugeot pulled out of sportscar racing.
Peugeot decided to switch toFormula One, using the same 3.5L V10 from the 905 that was easily adjusted to F1 regulations. In1994, Peugeot debuted as an engine supplier with theMcLaren team and remained in F1 until the end of the2000 season, when, after little success, they decided to concentrate on theWorld Rally Championship, where their factory team had had some success, winning the title on several occasions. However, Peugeot withdrew its works WRC operation at the end of the2005 season, and returned to Le Mans for the2007 24 Hours, with the new908 HDi FAP prototype entry.
| Year | Entrant | Class | Drivers | No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Points | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | C1 | 5 | SUZ | MNZ | SIL | LMS | NUR | MAG | MEX | AUT | ||||
| 1 | 8 | 6 | Ret | Ret | 2 | 2 | 4 | 69 | 3rd | |||||
| 1 | 8 | 6 | Ret | Ret | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||||
| 6 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 1 | 1 | Ret | 40 | 10th | ||||
| Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 1 | 1 | Ret | |||||||
MNZ | SIL | LMS | DON | SUZ | MAG | Points | Pos | |||||||
| 1992 | C1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 98 | 1st | ||||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
| 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 64 | 2nd | ||||||
| Ret | Ret | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||
| 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 31 | Ret | NC | NC | |||||||||||
| Ret | ||||||||||||||
| Ret | ||||||||||||||
| 71 | 2 | 15 | 14th | |||||||||||
| 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Year | Entrant | Class | No | Drivers | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | C1 | 5 | 22 | DNF | DNF | ||
| 6 | 68 | DNF | DNF | ||||
| 1992 | C1 | 1 | 352 | 1st | 1st | ||
| 2 | 345 | 3rd | 3rd | ||||
| 31 | 208 | DNF | DNF | ||||
| 1993 | C1 | 1 | 374 | 2nd | 2nd | ||
| 2 | 367 | 3rd | 3rd | ||||
| 3 | 375 | 1st | 1st |