Pescarolo Sport specifies its project for the 24 2024 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans 2023 has not yet taken place, the 2024 edition is already arousing curiosity. If several manufacturers will arrive in Sarthe next year (BMW, Lamborghini and Alpine), other teams have also announced their intention to participate in the Le Mans event, with more “fuzzy” plans.

This is particularly the case of Isotta Fraschini, who ran his Hypercar for the first time in April, but also from Pescarolo Sport. The project – in which Henri Pescarolo is not involved – took on a new dimension last February with the announcement of an agreement with Peugeot for the operation of a customer 9X8. To clear the fog around this program, Jocelyn Pedrono, boss of Pescarolo Sport, gave an interview to our colleagues from Ouest-France published this Tuesday. 

A hoped-for first ride “end of 2023” with the 9X8

The business manager provided several details on his vision of the project and on the return of Pescarolo Sport to Le Mans. « Peugeot validated the program and expressed his pride in working with us, rejoiced Jocelyn Pedrono. This announcement unlocked things with potential financial partners. We are going forward. The milestones have been reached, now there are still plenty of steps to go. We are considering rolling out at the end of 2023 and starting at the beginning of 2024. If I have a delay in signing my financial partners, we will postpone the program. The idea is to arrive in good conditions, it's not a one-shot. »

The French team, present in Sarthe between 2000 and 2010 with two 2nd places as its best result (2005 and 2006), is aiming for a return in 2024 in the Hypercar category. At the time, Pescarolo Sport and Peugeot had already been closely linked: the Lion brand had been the engine supplier for the Courage prototype between 2000 and 2003. In 2009, the team had operated a customer Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. Fifteen years later, history could repeat itself.

“The choice was made in an extremely natural way. A return from Pescarolo with Peugeot, for me, that makes sense. […] There is real support from Peugeot, which is not limited to selling us a car. We are supported on operations and logistics,” explains Jocelyn Pedrono, far from being worried by the laborious debut of the 9X8 in Hypercar. “We see that Peugeot is moving in the right direction. The team had already identified problems linked to the gearbox actuators. They made the fixes, the reliability is there, they are now in a logic of research of performance. They do it as Peugeot knows how to do it Rally, Rally-Raid or Endurance »

Jouanny, intermediary between Pescarolo Sport and Peugeot

At the heart of the project, a second man: Bruce Jounny, former Pescarolo Sport driver and three-time participant in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He will be in charge of the team's sporting development. “He knows the Peugeot group very well having covered quite a few events in the press relations area, Pedrono points out. The rapid relationship with Jean-Marc Finot was made thanks to him. Bruce guarantees the implementation of the sports program. We are working to compose a trio of French pilots. We want to have two management drivers and a rookie driver in endurance. »

It remains to be seen whether this project will come to fruition in time for the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2024. Pescarolo Sport, in its new form after resuming activities in 2016, had already attempted a foray into Endurance with the Pescarolo 04-LM, without success. . If Peugeot's technical support certainly provides a guarantee and credibility to the project, the vagueness around the operational and financial part still leaves doubt... To be continued.

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