Paul Di Resta has positive feelings about the renewed Peugeot that he is preparing to drive in the 2024 season of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Already before Christmas some images of the 9X8 equipped with a rear wing appeared during the tests carried out at Paul Ricard, but the Lion's Hypercar will not only have the aerodynamic appendix as a novelty for the season which will begin in Qatar in March.
Wheels of different sizes were also fitted on the Leone prototype and, while waiting to discover the details during the presentation phase (if there will be one), it is clear that the technicians have also put their hands on the bodywork and bottom to improve a car that to this day he has suffered the pain of hell, as Di Resta himself admitted.
Peugeot 9X8 LMH with rear wing
“It's obvious that our car worked very differently from the others, but I believe that the rules were decided a long time ago and that the direction taken was now that of the car we used last year,” said the Scot in the round table with journalists attended by Motorsport.com.
“We have seen its weaknesses in development and against the competition, the way in which our rivals have always taken steps forward cannot be underestimated.”
“I think the new benchmark that Toyota showed last year already at Sebring highlighted the difference that can be made between cars.”
“The most important thing for us is that when you are ready to take that step forward you try to do it as best as possible. But until you see the lap times compared to your rivals you can't know if you've done a good job.”
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
#93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Mikkel Jensen, Jean-Eric Vergne
The wing will be there, but what matters in the end will be lap times and race performance, which at the moment, as highlighted above, is unpredictable.
What is certain, however, is that all of Peugeot Sport has concentrated as much as possible on trying to take the good things from the 9X8 and maintain them also on the advanced version.
“Aesthetically the car will be a little different and I'm sure people will clearly notice one thing and form their own opinion on it, but for us it's about making sure that the car gives good sensations, because if the drivers get along well it's an important thing in endurance racing.”
“We tried some new elements in the car and the sensation is very different. From the driver's side it gives us more indications towards the direction we want to take, but still it was difficult to compete with the car we had against our rivals.”
“There are strengths that we had, and I'm not just talking about aerodynamics or mechanics, but everything else. These are the aspects that we addressed.”
“I think the most important thing is that all members of the Peugeot racing department are united, the car was designed by a new team, so after having collected the data necessary to move forward, it has all been put to good use; this is the main improvement”.
“I can't wait to understand how he will behave towards others and, above all, to hopefully race at his best.”
Photo by: Shameem Fahath
#93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Mikkel Jensen, Jean-Eric Vergne
This year, Di Resta has been moved to the #94 Peugeot with Stoffel Vandoorne and Loic Duval, while in his place in the #93 will be Nico Muller with Jean-Eric Vergne and Mikkel Jensen.
A choice, that of changing crews, which the 37-year-old accepted for the good of the team.
“The most important thing is to have a good bond with everyone and we could see this in the endurance tests we carried out, as well as all the times we worked together.”
“It's definitely a bit difficult to accept the driver shuffle because, in my case, I think the combination between me, Mikkel and 'Jev' was very good. But I'm always open to ways to improve and I'm looking forward to working with Loic and Stoffel. I've been in this program for a while now and it's not like starting from scratch.”
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