In June, the 35-year-old...

In June, the 35-year-old Canadian will race one of the company’s new diesel-powered 908 sports proto?types, alongside fellow ex-F1 drivers Pedro Lamy and Marc Gene.

Peugeot’s attempts to beat the dominant Audi R10s will also include a second 908 featuring an all-French crew of triple ChampCar title holder Sebastien Bourdais, Stephane Sarrazin and Nicolas Minassian.

The company triumphed at Le Mans in 1992 and 1993, before switching its motorsport programmes to building F1 engines and then to rallying. It confirmed its return to sportscars last summer, although bosses admit they are not expecting to challenge for outright victory in the renowned enduro until 2008. Should Villeneuve win the classic race, he will become the first man to have held F1 and ChampCar titles, scooped the Indianapolis 500 and triumphed at Le Mans.

Having lost his GP seat at BMW-Sauber midway through last season, Villeneuve is keen to get back behind the wheel as swiftly as possible. “As with Indy, Le Mans is a mythical race. It will be a great experience and we should be competitive,” he said at last week’s announcement in Paris.

Villeneuve added that he remains interested in eventually following Col?ombian Juan Pablo Montoya into the NASCAR series in the US.