Peugeot enjoys a problem-free first day

A little over a month after the big debut of the 9X8 in competition, Peugeot is always with a view to learning with a view to 24 Hours of Le Mans 2023. Despite its many kilometers in testing, reliability problems did not spare the two examples entered by the French team at the 6 Hours of Monza. 

Menezes: “Happy with what we achieved during this first day”

“We tested before Monza, but nothing replaces the pressure of a race weekend, explains Gustavo Menezes, the American driver of the No. 94. We have made some progress since then. We discover a new trail in Fuji. We are very happy with what we achieved during this first day. There is still a lot to learn to continue building our weekend. »

In Japan, the Sochalian Hypercar finds a good working base with the circuit located at the foot of Mount Fuji. “It’s a track with a lot of turns, some low speed sections, some high speed sections, so it’s very interesting for the car”, juge ainsi Jean-Marc Finot, Directeur de Stellantis Motorsport. Sur le tracé propriété de Toyota, le prototype que Menezes partage avec Loïc duval and James Rossiter even came within just 0.268 seconds of the best time recorded by the GR010 Hybrid n°8 of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa during the first Free Practice session.

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If the Japanese accelerated the pace during the second driving session of the day, dropping below a minute and a half (1:29.948 for the No. 7 of Mike conway, Kamui Kobayashi et Jose Maria Lopez), They Peugeot remained in their morning references, whileAlpine dragged its unfavorable Performance Balance. The main thing was elsewhere. “The most important thing today was not to have any reliability problems, says Gustavo Menezes. Our goal is to have the best possible weekend and achieve the best result. The Hypercar is an extremely complex car with a lot of electronic systems. To find maximum performance, we must optimize each setting. It's a step by step process. » 

In Monza, the Lion manufacturer had notably experienced problems with clogging resulting from traffic. “Monza was our first race. We discovered a few issues with the car that were impossible to spot during testing, explains Jean-Marc Finot. We've been working to fix this, but expect to encounter new ones. Of course we want to win every race we show up to, but we know that 2022 is a learning year for us. »

Peugeot has made some changes to avoid the temperature problems encountered with the gearbox during the Lombard event. “We are looking to do better and better race after race,” continues the French leader. It's nice to have a full day without problems after Monza. » If the problems remain far from the two 9X8s during the weekend, the pace displayed on Friday could allow them to claim a first podium in the race.

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