Oh boy. Just look at this beauty.

Peugeot may have been rubbish at Formula One and its road cars may have lost their way these days, but when it builds a sports racing car, it build a stunning sports racing car.

The new car, dubbed the LMP1 908 'Lion', is about to undergo a major testing programme in readiness for the Le Mans 24 Hours this June.

Top of the list will be transmission durability testing. The 908 is powered by a mighty V12 HDi diesel engine that's likely to have more torque than a steam liner.

The 908, while doing its best Batmobile impression in its all-black test-car livery, is likely to be stickered up in patriotic red, white and blue for the event.

There's little doubt that Peugeot will be putting in a massive effort to win the race and, more importantly, wrest the trophy away from those pesky Germans. Check out the driver line-up for proof:

As predicted on this website, former F1 champ Jacques Villeneuve will be driving along with sports car aces Nicolas Manassian and Stephane Sarrazin, plus Marc Gene (Ferrari's F1 tester), Champ Car champ Sebastien Bourdais and former F1 driver Pedro Lamy.

That's one hell of a squad.

So it's Peugeot vs Audi for this year's Le Mans. Let battle commence...

The 908 HDi FAP is significant because it represents not only Peugeot's return to the legendary Le Mans race, but to frontline motorsports in general.

Peugeot's works WRC effort is dead, so the next few years are all about going longer and faster at the world's most famous endurance race.

And going longer and faster means taking on the inexorable motorsport force that is Audi - and taking them on with a diesel.

You wouldn't know it from watching the video but like Audi's R10, Peugeot's latest Le Mans challenger burns the oily, smelly stuff.

Thanks to some trick HDi common-rail, direct-injection technology and a comprehensive particulate filter system, the 908 charges around with barely a puff of smoke from its exhausts. Weird.

Particulate filters? Common-rail diesel engines? Yes, the urge to yawn is great but worth stifling because unlike Audi's R10, the Peugeot is powered by a comparatively wide-angle 5.5-litre V12 with twin turbos.

And as any motorsport nut knows, V12 racing engines rule. Especially one with 700bhp and a gravity-warping 885lb ft of torque.

Peugeot is convinced that this all-aluminium 100-degree V12 will generate less vibration than its V10 rival from Audi, thus benefiting reliability.

Saying that, the Audi R10 endurance racer won the not only Le Mans in 2006, but also the notoriously tough Sebring 12-hours... with a V10 diesel.

Turn the speakers up when you watch the vid and listen to that V12 engine. It's genuinely melodic. Not loud but there's sweet music coming from the rear of the big Pug.

And just look at it.

If you put an Apache gunship, an F1-car and a Sentinel machine from the Matrix in room with a comfy bed and some Barry White on the stereo, this would be the result.

It's a fabulous-looking machine; let's hope Peugeot doesn't ruin it with a disgraceful livery...

The closed body style meets new Le Mans regulations and has created an extremely narrow canopy. It'll be interesting to listen to the driver quotes about this after the race because, given the choice, drivers prefer the feeling and easy-access/egress of an open-top racer.

Closed-cockpit race cars tend to fog up in the rain too, and rain isn't that unusual at Le Mans in mid-June...

There's an aggressive driver line-up, with Pedro Lamy, Marc Gene and '97 F1 champ Jacques Villeneuve sharing a distinctly F1-themed car, and Sébastien Bourdais, Stéphane Sarrazin and Nicolas Minassian driving the second 908 challenger.

Villeneuve's appointment has grabbed all the headlines, because the 36-year-old Canadian has already won the F1 championship and the Indy 500, so a win at Le Mans will give him an unofficial Triple Crown of victories at the highest level of circuit racing.

Jacques has always demanded a specific car set-up to suit his driving style, and is already commenting on the "new experience of finding a compromise on the set-up for multiple drivers".

It'll be interesting to see which of the two 908 squads come out on top - the 'F1' crew or the more experienced team of Bourdais, Sarrizin and Minassian.

Between them, the 'BSM' squad has competed in 15 Le Mans.

The 'F1' boys? Five for Lamy, but neither JV nor Gene has raced the famous 24-hours before.

The Peugeot vs. Audi battle at Le Mans this year will be cracking. Peugeot has won the race in the past ('92 and '93) and will be making every effort to win this year.

See you there.