Peugeot 9X8 2024: a claw finally sharp?

Sebring, March 2023. On the occasion of the eponymous 1000 Miles, the opening round of this season of WEC, Peugeot delivers a nightmarish ride. Lack of rhythm, reliability problems, the two 9X8s without aileron made their worst copy since their entry into competition a few months earlier, during the 6 Hours of Monza, in July 2022. The failure is all the more bitter as in the same time, Ferrari managed to win a pole and a podium for his first in Hypercar… and without encountering any major problems on his 499P. A resounding berezina, but a founding act of a (r)evolution at Versailles-Satory.

Motorland-Aragon, March 2024. One year after the Florida disaster, Peugeot is testing under the Spanish sun. Paul di Resta is the first of the seven riders to venture onto the still green tarmac, marked by different trajectories from the motorcycles that have ridden here in previous days. After a few Out-In laps (leaving the pits and returning to the immediate garage), the Scotsman begins to string together loops. At midday, he gave way to Stoffel Vandoorne. The other holders of the two 9X8s will follow, Loïc duval, Jean-Éric Vergne, Nico Müller and Mikkel Jensen as well as reservist Malthe Jakobsen. Everyone is involved during this 40-hour endurance session.

The new prototype may seem familiar at first glance, with its characteristic front end and its lion-claw-shaped headlights, but if a few journalists are present, it is not to admire a look they already know. At the rear now stands the famous wing which has caused so much discussion due to its absence since the revelation of the LMH in July 2021.