After much talk, now it’s official: Peugeot will not take part in the 24h of Le Mans in 2022 with its new Hypercar 9X8 Hybrid.
The French team is still engaged in development tests of the new prototype, which in order to race at the Circuit de la Sarthe should have been at the start of one of the previous rounds of the FIA WEC.
The absence at Sebring had already been announced, there was the hope of homologating the car in time for the 6h of Spa-Francorchamps on the first weekend of May, but it is news today that the race debut will only take place in the summer, therefore presumably in Monza in July.
“Every Le Mans Hypercar must be homologated to be licensed to race, after which its design cannot be changed further until 2025, except in very special circumstances governed by strict conditions,” explained technical director Olivier Jansonnie.
“All of these changes will be counted as ‘EVO jokers’, which are limited to five between 2021 and 2025, apart from specific force majeure situations such as, for example, when the safety or reliability of the car is compromised. development in this way is important, as it would not be possible to adjust the performance of a car that is subject to constant technical updates through changes to the Balance Of Performance “.
“The homologation process itself consists of a series of important starting points. The timing and implementation of this process is very precise and ends with the submission of an homologation dossier that describes in great detail all the components of the vehicle. (with photos and weight measurements), as well as a wind tunnel test of its aerodynamics and an inspection of the vehicle by FIA / ACO technicians “.
“After this, its development is ‘frozen’. Its performance parameters are subsequently evaluated in order to be able to adjust its power, weight and minimum speed of distribution of hybrid energy, which are the key factors of the Balance Of Performance.” .
“A manufacturer judges his car ready to be homologated when he believes it has achieved the level of performance and reliability required to be eligible for the BoP evaluation. Mans than any other competitor. And therefore he accepts from this point on that his vehicle will not be able to undergo further important technical modifications until the end of the homologation cycle “.
Peugeot 9X8
Photo by: Peugeot Sport
That said, Jansonnie admitted that work on the 9X8 is still ongoing and that the car needs extensive analysis, not least because its rear wingless design requires particular perfection in adjustments. To this we must then add the very important aspect of reliability, which is the most important thing in endurance.
“We will run in the summer. This will simply give us the time necessary to reach the necessary level of reliability. In this way, our planning will allow us to put all the weight of our teams and our resources into the test sessions, without the interruption of the races of Spa-Francorchamps and Le Mans “.
“Both from an operational and reliability point of view, Le Mans is the most difficult race on the calendar. We will start with some shorter races, which will allow us to progressively update in the championship.”
“As with our production cars, when we have to choose between meeting a deadline or focusing on quality, we always give priority to the latter.”
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