Peugeot is progressing in reliability but is seeking its rhythm

In Fuji, two months after his return to Endurance in Monza, Peugeot continues his learning. After the reliability problems encountered in Lombardy, the two 9X8s completed the laps without problem during the three Free Practice sessions. 38, 39 and 32 laps were thus covered by No. 94 (nearly 500 km) of Loïc duval, Gustavo Menezes and James Rossiter; 38, 49 and 34 laps for the No. 93 (nearly 550 km) of Paul di Resta, Mikkel Jensen and Jean-Éric Vergne, during the four hours of driving before qualifying. 

Vergne: “A big step forward from Monza”

“Since Monza, the work accomplished by the team has borne fruit today: we completed all the driving sessions without encountering any technical problems blocking, judge Jean-Marc Finot, director of Stellantis Motorsport. For this, I would like to thank and congratulate each person here at Fuji, but also at Satory. That said, we still have a way to go to achieve target performance. We would have liked to be closer to our competitors in the Hypercar category but we are on an upward slope. Our battle plan continues: we learn and progress with each confrontation. The team is gaining experience and progressing with the settings of the car on this very special circuit. »

Lors de la première séance d’Essais Libres, les deux Peugeot 9X8 étaient dans la même demi-seconde que les Toyota GR010 hybrides qui ont dominé toutes les sessions de roulage du week-end. Elles ont également figuré dans le tiercé gagnant des EL3. Néanmoins, dans la catégorie Hypercar, elles sont les seules à ne pas avoir réussi à descendre en dessous de la minute trente le tempo s’est accéléré en qualifications. D’un rien, puisque Jean-Éric Vergne a établi le meilleur temps de l’équipe avec un compte rond, en 1:30.000. Le Français estime d’ailleurs que ce temps était améliorable. “We have taken a big step forward since Monza, explains the Habs. On the car, on the organization of the team... In terms of performance and qualifying, we are only in our 2nd race, and our 1st real qualifying for our car (Mikkel Jensen was unable to complete a flying lap at Monza due to damage. Editor’s note). We still have a lot to improve but I am confident for the future. I can't yet extract the full potential of the car and I think I could have done better in a while. We will continue to work hard with the team. »

“Between the two cars in qualifying, we tested different things, adds the other Frenchman in the team, Loïc Duval. We are still in the learning phase but we are here, in the competition. We have taken a big step forward compared to Monza, and our first race. Today, in qualifying, the gap exists, it’s true, with the competition who have much more experience. We suffered a little, especially with balance, in some portions of the circuit, but the key to the race will be regularity and reliability. We want to get closer to others every time. With five cars in the category, we are aiming for the podium tomorrow. »

“In this discipline, the level of performance is very linked to reliability”

A trouble-free race would already be major progress since Monza for the Sochaux brand. “In this discipline, the level of performance is very linked to reliability, recalled Olivier Jansonnie, the technical director of the program WEC. Many things depend on this and the organization of the team in general. It is complicated to distinguish between intrinsic performance and that used in the field. Today, it is clear that we must succeed in resolving as a priority the minor defects of the car that we see appearing, which are not really serious in the sense that we are finding solutions as we move forward. That's the positive side. From the moment we already have a slightly quieter race in terms of reliability, the performance will naturally increase, simply because we will have the time to concentrate on it and not on saving the car. We will also have time to start deploying our racing and energy conservation strategies. Things that at the moment we don't really know how to do, because we are focused on other elements which are much more down to earth. The objective at Fuji will be to continue learning, to get as close as possible to optimal operating conditions, to be in a mentality of winning everything we can win, to be as efficient as possible at every moment. during Free Practice, qualifying and the race. Whether we succeed or not depends on many things, but we will keep trying, because that's how we learn. »

“Tomorrow in the race, performance and strategy will be decisive, our objective will be to go as far and as high as possible, ambitions Jean-Marc Finot. Tire consumption and management will be determining factors during these 6 hours. » At his own pace, Peugeot finds that of the competition.

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