Peugeot still looking for rhythm

Peugeot did not shine during the qualifications of 24 Hours of Le Mans. The two 9X8s failed to advance to Hyperbole, taking 10th and 11th places. “ Already, we are very happy to be here, to be in the race for the Centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, reacted Jean-Marc Finot after the session. We are obviously a little disappointed with qualifying, because we would have liked to have had a little more pace. »

« We are getting closer race after race, but not at the speed we would like, continues the director of motorsport at Stellantis. We will mainly work this evening and tomorrow on race pace. » 

Peugeot is not only counting on this, but also hopes to move up thanks to the events inherent in a double turn of the clock. « Rhythm is one thing, but there will also be racing, mechanical and weather hazards, thus indicates the French leader. It’s going to be a great challenge, we can’t wait. » 

The modification of the Balance of Performance should allow the French manufacturer to make up part of its gap on the best, but the two French Hypercars failed more than two seconds behind the Ferrari by Antonio Fuoco. 

« We are in the order of magnitude of what we achieved in the tests, but it is true that the competition is doing well », Notes Jean-Marc Finot. 

Some avenues for progress are still being explored, starting with the Free Practice session held at night this Wednesday evening. “ Traction coming out of the corner would help us a lot. It will be difficult to push with the race in traffic so that would help us a lot. This is what we must succeed in working on. A little top speed would help us too… » Two key factors for evolving efficiently in Le Mans traffic. 

Jean-Marc Finot nevertheless pointed to the racing pace as an encouraging point for this first part of the week in Sarthe. « The rhythm was quite stable, he confirms. We noticed that we had fairly regular relays on the management of our tire wear, which is rather positive for the race. »

Mikkel Jensen, the Danish driver of the No. 93 Peugeot, shares this same opinion, but also believes that the car lacks consistency. « We need to be more consistent with our balance, have more rhythm in everything we do. Sometimes the car does a good turn, sometimes we have a little trouble with the balance, without 100% understanding why. It's more about trying to get the car to be consistent within the usage window. »

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