Disappointment in the Peugeot clan in Bahrain: “Not a very positive outcome”

To Peugeot , la dernière manche de la saison 2022 était l’occasion de prouver des améliorations en termes de performance mais surtout, en fiabilité. Raté. À l’instar de Monza et de Fuji, les deux 9X8 ont été touchées par des problèmes lors des 8 Heures de Bahreïn. Dans le rythme des Toyota en début de course, les montures françaises sont retombées dans leurs travers : la n°93, pourtant sur le podium, s’est immobilisée au premier virage au bout de deux heures, avant de repartir mais d’abandonner lors de la 6e heure sur un problème de boîte de la vitesses . La n°94 a aussi rencontré des soucis mécaniques et de logiciel, restant au garage pendant quelques tours avant de franchir l’arrivée en 4e (et dernière) position chez les Hypercar, à plus de 6 tours du vainqueur.

On the side of the French clan, disappointment is mixed with frustration. “It’s not a very positive outcome at the moment”, declared a fatalistic Olivier Jansonnie. Peugeot's technical director regrets that the numerous problems encountered by the two 9X8s could not give any real indication of performance. “We need to calmly analyze what happened. There are still positive points in terms of rhythm and speed. Unfortunately, we had put in place a strategy that we did not fully implement because reliability problems prevented us from doing so. From the moment the cars are delayed, no longer playing for the win and shifted on track compared to the leader, it is complicated to really analyze. »

Peugeot is not “not at the expected level of reliability after three races”

If Peugeot had a complicated third race in terms of reliability, Olivier Jansonnie points out the few reasons for satisfaction at the end of the Bahrain round. “We are where we thought we would be in terms of the degradation of the tires and our relays. Not where we should be, but where we thought, judges the French technical director. We learned that we were pretty much on pace, at least initially. We also passed a qualification where we did what we wanted from an operational point of view. The start of the race was relatively in line with our expectations and our race plan, but we still lack a little performance and above all a lot of reliability. »

The results of the 9X8's debut in competition are therefore rather negative, with still a lot of work on the impressive French Hypercar. After these three “learning” events, Peugeot will absolutely have to resolve all the problems before the start of the 2023 season to get back into line, with the arrival of many competitors in WEC. " We still have to work on reliability which is the weak point today. These are very complicated cars and we are not at the expected level of reliability after three races”, confided Olivier Jansonnie. Peugeot will still have the right to carry out private tests completely freely until July 2023, that is to say one year after the approval of the 9X8. 

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