WEC
Peugeot "not going to Monza to be spectators" on 9X8's WEC debut
Peugeot will take its 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar to the Monza FIA World Endurance Championship round in July with the intention of challenging its new rivals on debut.
Gary Watkins
Edited: May 24, 2022, 5:15 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The maiden WEC outing for the new car on July 10 will be much more than an “extra test”, according to Olivier Jansonnie, technical director of the 9X8 programme at Peugeot Sport.
“We are not going to Monza to be spectators,” said Jansonnie on last week's launch of the car in Portimao, at which the 9X8’s Monza debut was confirmed.
“Whatever happens, we will play hard to try to win; probably we will not but at least we will have tried.
“We will try as hard as we can to race, and racing means being competitive. For how long in the race, we don’t know, but we will try for sure.”
Jansonnie stressed that Peugeot will be making its debut in Italy with “humility” when it goes up against Toyota, Glickenhaus and Alpine for the first time.
“Clearly we are really modest, but we will push as hard as we can to get the best result on the sporting side,” he said.
“It is clear the car, whatever happens with the mileage we have left on track between now and Monza, we won’t be at the level of maturity of our competitors.”
Peugeot 9x8
Photo by: Peugeot Sport
Jansonnie revealed the 9X8 test car has yet to complete a race simulation of six hours, the duration of a regular WEC event.
He explained that the intention is to undertake a full six-hour run in race conditions for the first time during the testing Peugeot Sport has planned between now and Monza.
“We will do a proper six hours at the next test probably,” he said.
- Watch all WEC races live on Motorsport.tv (geo-restrictions may apply).
Le Mans simulations will follow over the winter as Peugeot Sport gears up to return to the French enduro next June.
The first 9X8 has now completed 10,000km over 25 days of testing at Aragon, Paul Ricard, Magny-Cours, Barcelona and the Algarve circuit near Portimao.
Jansonnie wouldn’t reveal the test programme scheduled for the 9X8 between now and its race debut.
Should Peugeot want to test at Monza, it would need to do so in the coming weeks because WEC rules preclude running at a circuit on the championship schedule in the 30 days before the event.
James Rossiter, the WEC programme’s test and reserve driver, has been confirmed as the replacement for Haas Formula 1 returnee Kevin Magnussen in the Peugeot line-up for at least Monza and then the following round at Fuji in September.
How the six drivers will line up across the 9X8s at Monza, Fuji and then Bahrain in November has yet to be defined.
Peugeot put the names of three drivers on each door of the car at the launch, but it explained that this was to give each of its signings a presence on the car on the reveal of its final 2022 livery.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Peugeot reveals final 9X8 WEC Hypercar, set for Monza debut
Next article Peugeot may call on Maserati FE driver pool to fill WEC seat
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Gary Watkins
When Can-Am made its controversial comeback
General
When Can-Am made its controversial comeback
More from
Peugeot Sport
Peugeot promotes test driver Alex Quinn to race seat for 2027 WEC
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
Peugeot promotes test driver Alex Quinn to race seat for 2027 WEC
Stoffel Vandoorne to leave Peugeot’s WEC Hypercar team after Fuji
WEC
WEC
Fuji
Stoffel Vandoorne to leave Peugeot’s WEC Hypercar team after Fuji
Why Peugeot is confident its 2027 evo update can address long-standing hypercar issues
WEC
WEC
Fuji
Why Peugeot is confident its 2027 evo update can address long-standing hypercar issues
Latest news
Brad Keselowski to address questions about NASCAR future and RFK exit at Martinsville
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
40 min
Brad Keselowski to address questions about NASCAR future and RFK exit at Martinsville
Hamlin says Chevy teams 'suck at the teat' of Hendrick on superspeedways
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
3 h
Hamlin says Chevy teams 'suck at the teat' of Hendrick on superspeedways
Valtteri Bottas denies he might lose his Cadillac seat for F1 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
4 h
Valtteri Bottas denies he might lose his Cadillac seat for F1 2027
AJ Foyt Racing signs Josh Pierson to multi-year deal beginning with 2027 IndyCar season
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 4 h
AJ Foyt Racing signs Josh Pierson to multi-year deal beginning with 2027 IndyCar season
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe