Peugeot, one last positive race before the 9X8 2.0?

The 1812 km of Qatar mark the end of an era and a concept for Peugeot . This weekend, the 9X8 without its rear wing will make its last appearance in competition.

In addition to the addition of an aerodynamic appendage at the rear, Peugeot will abandon the 31cm Michelin tires at the front and rear for smaller front tires (29cm) and wider rear tires (34cm) , as is the case with all other Hypercars.

The layout of the Losail international circuit and its lack of relief offers a good playing field for this last outing (just like a conciliatory BoP)

The test results demonstrate this, including a second place during EL2 obtained by Jean-Eric Vergne and a new top 5 in EL3 this Friday morning.

« Here in Qatar the track is smoother than the others and there are fewer low speed turns, explains Jean-Marc Finot, motorsport boss at Stellantis. The handicap we had in Fuji or Bahrain is less annoying. Fortunately, the last race with this concept car takes place on a good circuit. » The 9X8 in its wingless version has already demonstrated that it can be efficient on very specific tracks, as was the case at Monza last year with a podium (3rd).

Could a good weekend in Qatar be used for version 2.0 of the prototype, expected for the second round of the season, the 6 Hours of Imola (April 21)? “ I would say that 90% of the design of the new car comes from our experience with the current car. So I think we will learn something, but the new one is already designed and its concept frozen for approval. » The latter is planned for later this month of March.

Would a good result this weekend at Losail change the outcome of this 1.0? “ It is clear that at some point we suffered from the change in regulations (especially in terms of wheel size. Editor’s note), replies Olivier Jansonnie, Peugeot Sport technical director. We are trying to look to the future. We don't come here with the idea of ​​proving something. Whether we were right or wrong is no longer relevant. »

The new version of the 9X8 has already been spotted in tests, notably at Paul-Ricard at the end of December.

« We are running the new car, we need to optimize it, Jansonnie explains again. We are doing some mechanical reinforcements on the car and saving weight on the components to be able to have more balance and movement. The weight distribution is what we targeted.

Whether it's the right one is another question. It is certain that the way (distance between the two wheels of the same axle. Ed.) is the same, the wheel arches are a little different to keep some space for the rear tires. The geometry changes a little because the tire is wider.

We have frozen the car and the options. We can internally choose from this package of options which one we are going to modulate. In any case, a margin of adjustment must be left for the day of approval. »

Tests were also carried out with the old configuration and new tire size. “ It was really interesting, continues the French technician. This helped us try to quantify the difference in performance, but also see if the issues we had with wear were different. So that was very helpful.

Overall, this probably saved us some comprehension difficulties due to the weight distribution. We can't run the old car with the new tires in a good weight solution.

We have to make some sort of compromise to keep it rolling. The pilots are happy, their reactions are positive, The aerodynamic specifications are not fixed. They will be on the day of approval. So we never really know what we have until the last moment. »

Qualifying scheduled for 16 p.m. Qatar time (00 p.m. in France), will already provide a glimpse of the potential of the original 14X00 for its swan song.