Pista – WEC – TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps: final outing for the PEUGEOT 9X8 2024 before the 24 Hours of Le Mans

After picking up its first points last time out at the 6 Hours of Imola, Team Peugeot TotalEnergies will be aiming to move up a gear at the “Roller-coaster of the Ardennes” (7.004km), where the Hypercars reach top speeds of around 320km/h. The TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps will provide the teams with an opportunity to prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in decidedly challenging and often changeable conditions.

“Spa is a difficult track. It’s very fast, there are a lot of acceleration points, the racing surface is hard and the weather is often unpredictable”, summarised Olivier Jansonnie, Peugeot Sport Technical Director. “From an operations point of view, it’s always really challenging and we had a bit of a tough time here last year.”

Despite a few hiccups on its WEC début at Imola – qualifying cut short by a red flag and a collision at the start of the race, for example – the PEUGEOT 9X8 2024 showed reliability and real potential to score its first Manufacturers’ points of the 2024 season. It’s now a question of confirming the team’s progress in the Belgian Ardennes.

“The 2024 version of the PEUGEOT 9X8 should be better suited to the Spa circuit than the 2023 version, with better grip on the low-speed corners such as the La Source hairpin,” explained Jean-Marc Finot, Stellantis Motorsport Senior VP.

With Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne missing the event to compete in Formula E, both Team Peugeot TotalEnergies crews will be made up of two drivers: Mikkel Jensen and Nico Müller will share driving duties in the no. 93 PEUGEOT 9X8 with Paul di Resta and Loïc Duval taking turns behind the wheel of the no. 94 car.

“Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Eric Vergne will be in Berlin competing in the FIA Formula E World Championship,” explained Olivier Jansonnie. “Of course, we would have preferred to have all three drivers available in each crew in order to prepare for Le Mans, but on the other hand, our four drivers will each have more track time during free practice and the race itself. Malthe Jakobsen will also be in Spa as support driver.”

After free practice and qualifying on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 May, the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps will get underway on Saturday 11 May at 1pm (CET). Nineteen prototypes have been entered in the Hypercar class.

Paul di Resta (no. 94 PEUGEOT 9X8)
“After a bit of a disjointed race at Imola, I hope the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps will go better for the no. 94 car. It’ll be our last race before Le Mans, so it’s a very important weekend. Spa is a fantastic circuit, with fast straights, sweeping corners and an undulating surface. It is certainly more suited to a field of Hypercars than Imola. It’s probably the track that is the closest to the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit in terms of vehicle-package and handling of the car. I hope the weather conditions will be sufficiently stable for us to keep learning about the PEUGEOT 9X8 2024 and also that we have a trouble-free race to boost everyone’s confidence before Le Mans.”

Mikkel Jensen (no. 93 PEUGEOT 9X8)
“Spa is a superb race track. It is undoubtedly one of the best in the world with the famous Eau Rouge-Raidillon combination, etc. It’s also just as enjoyable completing a lap in qualifying as it is a full Endurance race, unlike Imola, which was cool in qualifying but not really suited to the number of cars at a round of the WEC. We didn’t test the 2024 version of the car at Spa, so we don’t how the PEUGEOT 9X8 2024 will handle here, but I think that with the quick sections, it will be better than at Imola. Our aim will be to keep learning about the car and avoid making any mistakes.”