Peugeot unveils challenger for Le Mans return

Peugeot has finally revealed its new weapon of choice for the World Endurance Championship (WEC), taking the covers off the 9X8 Hypercar.

Aiming for a fourth crown at Le Mans, the French manufacturer is one of five brands confirmed to take part in the new Le Mans Hypercar regulations, with Toyota, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, ByKolles and Ferrari all expected to take on the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race by 2023.

Powering the rear axle is a 500kW, 2.6-litre V6 bi-turbo paired to a seven-speed gearbox, with a 200kW electric motor delivering power to the front wheels once the car has passed 120km/h, connected to a 900V battery pack and a single-speed transmission.

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Despite the absence of a rear wing, Peugeot says the 9X8 still meets the downforce targets set by the category

The 9X8 features a radical design with no rear wing, aimed at creating high top speeds down the long straights at Circuit de la Sarthe, a track where average lap speeds can reach 250km/h.

Peugeot Sport's WEC programme technical director, Olivier Jansonnie, says the lack of a rear wing is completely within the rule book and the car still meets the downforce target set by the category without it.

“Designing the 9X8 has been a passionate experience because we had the freedom to invent, innovate and explore off-the-wall ways to optimise the car’s performance, and more especially its aerodynamics," said Jansonnie.

"The regulations stipulate that only one adjustable aerodynamic device is permitted, without specifying the rear wing. Our calculation work and simulations revealed that high performance was effectively possible without one.”

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Under the skin of the Peugeot 9X8

Peugeot CEO Linda Jackson believes motorsport and Le Mans in particular is at the core of Peugeot's brand, allowing the road car side of the business to take from the learnings of the motorsport team and implement it into vehicles for customers.

“There’s more to Peugeot's involvement in endurance racing than the sporting aspect,” said Jackson.

“Endurance racing is a form of motorsport that provides us with an extreme laboratory, which explains why our association with Le Mans is so strong.

"More significant perhaps than the results we obtain on the race track are the opportunities it provides to prove our technology and the fruit of our research work in a race that throws extreme conditions at you for 24 hours.

"Le Mans gives us a competitive environment to validate the hybrid systems and technologies we are currently developing to reduce the fuel consumption – and therefore CO2 emissions – of our road cars.

"The teams at Peugeot Sport are proud when they see their research carried over to our production models.

"For our customers, Le Mans is a laboratory that testifies to the quality of our cars.”

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The finished 9X8 will not feature a high-vis interior

Acknowledging the company's history of creating Le Mans winners with the 905 (1992, 1993) and 908 (2009), the 9X8's name comes from the 9 series being its ultimate race cars, X is a nod to its all-wheel-drive hybrid powertrain while the 8 links it to the current range of Peugeot cars, such as 2008, 308 and 508.

Peugeot says the car's final design will differ slightly from the vehicle unveiled today, having to undergo further testing both in-house and with the sport's governing body before it gets signed off to compete in the 2022 WEC season.

Drivers signed to the Peugeot Sport Engineered WEC program include former 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Loic Duval, Le Mans class winner Gustavo Menezes, former Formula 1 drivers Paul Di Resta, Kevin Magnussen and Jean-Eric Vergne, American Le Mans Series winner James Rossiter and current IMSA LMP2 championship leader Mikkel Jensen.

Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) entries will compete against Le Mans Daytona hybrid (LMDh) machines for outright honours at the famous 24 Hour race, with Acura, BMW, Porsche and Audi all confirmed to join the latter class, giving them the ability to compete in WEC and IMSA.