Nico Müller present in the Peugeot 9X8 for the 8 Hours of Bahrain

It was the little uncertainty in Hypercar before the final round of the 2022 season of WEC : who will be the 6th driver at Peugeot , aboard the 9X8 n°94? Occupied by James Rossiter since the start of the season, the seat was then called into question following to the signing of Nico Müller with the French team, then by the appointment of the Briton as principal director of the new Maserati team in Formula E. Finally, Peugeot gave an answer, less than a month before the Bahraini race: it will be the Swiss who will drive the No. 94 alongside Loïc duval and Gustavo Menezes in Sakhir.

🚨 8am Bahrain here we come! 🇧🇭

I am super excited to be making my race debut in the #Peugeot9X8 at this year's @FIAWEC final 🙌🏻

My first day in the car was awesome and I can't wait to get into race mode together with @loicduval & @followgustavo in the #94 🦁# nm51 #fullpull pic.twitter.com/PBLGhULiwo

— Nico Mueller (@nico_mueller) October 17, 2022

Müller “quickly felt confident” with the 9X8

Nico Müller, former official Audi driver in GT and member of the Vector Sport team in LM P2, will therefore make his first laps in an official Hypercar session in Bahrain. “During his day learning the car at Monza, Nico was amazing. Calm, focused, he delivered valuable information on the 9X8, reinforcing the profile of our machine established by our reference drivers, detailed Olivier Jansonnie, technical director of Peugeot Sport. He integrated easily into the team. All the lights are green for his first participation with the team in Bahrain. »

The main interested party was delighted with Peugeot's choice to let him take a seat in the 9X8 in Sakhir. “I am confident and happy to be able to start competing with the Peugeot 9X8 and the team from Bahrain, confided the Swiss pilot. My first contact with the car, during a test session at Monza, went very well. I quickly felt confident. I was able to conduct long runs behind the wheel, reviewing different tires. Generally speaking, I adapt quite easily; In my career, I have already had an experience of this type: in 2007, in Shanghai, I had ten laps before competing in the race with the LMP2 that I had tested. From now in Bahrain, I will continue my learning, particularly at the simulator at Satory. This is a very valuable and precise tool for this. »

Van der Zande returns to Vector Sport

With the formalization of Nico Müller in the No. 94 Peugeot in Bahrain, a place became available at Vector Sport, in LM P2. A seat quickly recovered by Renger van der Zande. The Dutchman will replace the Swiss for the last round of the season, alongside Sébastien Bourdais and Ryan Cullen. Van der Zande had already replaced Müller, hired in DTM, in Fuji in September. “ We are extremely happy to have Renger with us for our final race of the season, as he has had a very positive impact on the team at Fuji, said Gary Holland, Senior Director of Vector Sport. He's quick, smart and his approach and attitude meshes perfectly with ours. His knowledge of the Bahrain International Circuit will be invaluable to us in our debut there, and we can't wait to go there and show what we can do. »

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