Loic Duval has revealed that he turned down a offer from Peugeot to join Audi for this year's Le Mans 24 Hours.
The 29-year-old Frenchman, who was announced as part of Audi's 12-driver Le Mans lineup on the launch of its 2012 sports car program on Thursday, confirmed that he tested for the factory Peugeot squad at the end of last summer and was in detailed talks with the French manufacturer.
Duval, who raced a semi-works Peugeot 908 HDi for the French ORECA team in 2010-11, said: "I did test and we did talk, but they weren't able to offer what I was looking for. At the same, time I contacted Audi, because it was the manufacturer I really wanted to be with. You only have to look at their record to understand why; Audi is Audi."
He said that he hoped to remain with Audi for next year, despite switching from Honda to Toyota for this year's Super GT Series in Japan.
Duval will make his Audi debut in the Sebring 12 Hours, driving an uprated R18 TDI together with former Le Mans winners Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas. They will drive an R18 ultra, the conventional turbo-diesel car, at the 24 Hours.