The French team of with the Hypercar, the Peugeot 9X8 is almost ready to compete in Le Mans, let’s see the latest.
What’s happening?
The Peugeot 9X8 was present at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, a must-see race on the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) calendar, which incidentally had an attendance of more than 72,000 fans. This competition is the last where the French team will participate before the 24 Hours of LeMans.
During its first participation on the Belgian track, the Peugeot team with the 9X8 had a consistent race without any major mechanical problems.
It is on a wet track where Paul Di Resta and Gustavo Menezes took the start behind the wheel of the 9X8 #93 and #94. The team decided to start on wet tires and then switch to slick on the dry track, tire strategy being a key element of those 6 hours of racing that were interrupted four times with a Safety Car procedure.
The six Peugeot Sport drivers, Paul Di Resta, Mikkel Jensen, Jean-Eric Vergne and Loïc Duval, Gustavo Menezes, Nico Müller drove an exemplary race, making no mistakes and allowing the team to confirm the improved reliability of the two Hybrid Hypercars. .
This race is important as it has a very challenging track, and served to optimize learning in order to prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the most important race of the 2023 season.
Jean-Eric Vergne, with the PEUGEOT 9X8 #93, crossed the checkered flag in seventh position in the Hypercar class, after being hit by an LMP2 car causing him to lose pace towards the end of the race. Nico Müller followed in the #94 9X8 finishing ninth in a very competitive class, after being stopped for a false detection during a refueling.
The comments of some drivers in the race:
Mikkel Jensen, Peugeot 9X8 #93:
“I think my stint was fine with the difficult conditions, it was difficult to drive the car. I would stray a bit at times, but with the dry line getting wider, it got easier even if it was still wet. The cold tires were very difficult to deal with, but it was the same for everyone in heavy traffic. Now we have to focus on the next steps that will be a challenge for the whole team and the cars.”
Nico Muller, Peugeot 9X8 #94:
“It was an exciting race with difficult conditions at the start. Gustavo did a great job; We were on wet tyres, and I think it was the right decision in our situation and we managed to keep the car on track. Obviously, it meant that we had to stop before everyone else, which counteracted the whole strategy. It was then a bit difficult to know where we were. We had a problem with a mandatory sensor during a refuelling, the car flagged that it had run out of fuel at the end of the pit lane, it all worked out in the end, so it was a minor problem that unfortunately had big consequences in qualifying. We also tried to maximize the learnings for the future with Le Mans in mind, we tried to see how long the tires could last. I did three periods with a set that was long, but we made it work. I hope that the data we collect will help us in the future.”.
The next race of the Peugeot team with the 9X8 will be on June 10 and 11 with the centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans that will mark the return of the brand to the famous French track.
How do you see the progress of the Peugeot 9X8 in the different races leading up to Le Mans? Leave us your comment
