Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Bourdais got his 2009 racing season off to a promising start by finishing second in yesterday's Sebring 12 Hours sportscar race for the factory Peugeot team.
Bourdais is also driving the Peugeot at Le Mans in June, as the legendary 24 Hour race falls between grands prix this season for the first time in several years.
The team was contesting the famous Sebring race as part of its testing programme for Le Mans and battled for victory with arch-rival Audi throughout.
Ultimately a puncture dropped Bourdais a minute behind the leading Audi, and although he regained much of the lost ground, in the final stint his team-mate (and sometime Super Aguri Formula 1 driver) Franck Montagny could not quite hang on to Audi's star driver - and ex-Toyota F1 man - Allan McNish.
"We put in a strong run and, in the end, it was a puncture that cost us victory," said Bourdais.
Although Bourdais was the only currently active F1 driver racing at Sebring, he was joined in the Peugeot line-up by BMW's F1 reserve Christian Klien.
The Austrian's car was classified fifth after a late gearbox failure.