With the new 9X8 making its debut at Imola this weekend, the second roun d of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship, Peugeot’s drivers and management have been reflecting on the outgoing wingless 9X8.
When asked by MotorsportWeek.com whether Peugeot had extracted everything they could from the old car, Nico Muller, driver in the #93 9X8, agreed. “I would say so,” he answered.
“Honestly, I think that was kind of what we could do with that concept. And we saw that if we can put it into a good window relative with the competition, we can race for a podium, which was good.
“At the same time, we have to say that that concept was very suitable for the track characteristic of Qatar. So it’s always that game — when you come to a different track, you have to re-adapt, you have to… do a certain compromise, that is working better for one or the other concept,” he concluded.
Peugeot ran in second place for much of the race in Qatar, held at the Losail International Circuit, with the #93 car holding station behind the #6 Porsche 963, for the majority of the race after briefly leading early on.
However, it wasn’t to be a fairly tale finish for the French manufacturer’s wingless car, as a fueling problem at the car’s last pitstop ran out of fuel as Jean-Eric Vergne, one of Muller’s co-drivers in the #93, started his very last lap.
Olivier Jansonnie, Peugeot technical director, was of similar mind to Muller.
“The previous car, as we’ve seen in Qatar, at the end of the day was limited in performance, but somehow was close to its peak,” said the Frenchman.
“We had used everything we could from that car already. So it was well known with its own limitation, and we have used most of it. Now we have to redo all this optimisation work.”
The new car, meanwhile, is very very different, with only a few parts carried over from the old car. Jansonnie explains:
“The tub, the monocoque surface, with the windscreen and the air intake at the top, are the only things we haven’t changed really. The cooling concept is the same as on the old car as well, and the chassis is the same.
“The floor, the aero surfaces except from the monocoque, is different.”
The new 9X8 will make its race debut in the FIA WEC 6 Hours of Imola, starting 1pm local time.
