Improvements to the Peugeot 9X8: More speed at Le Mans

After racing with the wingless 9X8 during its first season in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the opening round of the 2024 campaign in Qatar, Peugeot introduced a new version of its car from the Imola 6 Hours onwards. Although it now features a wing, the car produces less drag and has a better top speed. Jean-Eric Vergne, driver of the #93 car, highlighted that this improvement will be crucial in traffic at the Circuit de la Sarthe to overtake slower LMP2 and GT3 cars.

Vergne commented: "The most important point will be raceability. Last year we had a major top speed issue. We couldn't overtake, and it was quite tricky. This year, it seems we have fixed the problem. That's the main and most important thing because even if you're fast and you're stuck behind a car that's two seconds slower but 10 km/h faster on straights, you can't do anything."

Nico Muller, Vergne's teammate in the #93 car, reached a top speed of 343.4 km/h during the Test Day, only bettered by Isotta Fraschini, giving Peugeot an advantage of 16.6 km/h over the fastest LMP2 car. "In traffic, it's definitely a big help," confirmed Muller. "When you have those last two or three extra km/h that just allow you to make one more position before turning, for example, into the Porsche corners, it can actually have a big impact."

Loic Duval, one of the drivers of the #94 car, admitted: "For the race itself, overtaking the competition, referring to the GTs, we have made a real improvement in this area, which is probably hard to understand for most people from the outside. You'd think a wingless car goes faster on a straight than a wing-equipped car. But we have less drag and manage to go faster now. For sure that's an advantage, especially on the Le Mans circuit."

However, Vergne pointed out that the new car is "not a revolution," and Muller added that "lap times are not mainly made in straight lines, it's more in cornering. So there, we still have room for improvement, obviously." The fastest #94 Peugeot ended the Test Day in 13th position, 2.4 seconds off the lead Porsche.