Peugeot: Points objective after difficult qualifying

Equipped with a new rear wing, the Peugeot 9X8 did not feature in the Hyperpole, reserved for the ten best times in the qualifying session. Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Éric Vergne, the two drivers selected for the exercise, finished respectively five and six tenths from the last qualifying place.

If the result is not necessarily what was expected for the Lions, Jean-Éric Vergne did not have a bad session, with a rather well-balanced car: “Stoffel and I put in some good laps, and we couldn't have squeezed much more out of the car. The car was OK, no major issues with porpoising, understeering or oversteering. It's that kind of lap where you get out of the car and you think you don't know how to gain two seconds. When we started the program at Sebring [in 2023], we knew there were a lot of areas to improve on. But in this session, we can't do much more. »

A BOP not optimal?

Implicitly of course, the BOP [Balance Of Performance] applied to the 9X8 version 2024. the Peugeot is in fact the heaviest car at Imola, and only the Porsche 963 has less allocated power, but with almost 30 kg less on the scale. A difficult situation for Stoffel Vandoorne.

“We'll see but it's a new car, they don't have a lot of data on this car so it's difficult for [the FIA ​​and the ACO] to judge where to place it. But when we look at the raw data, we have the worst of the whole bunch! I hope that after this race they will have data on where we are, and that they will be able to judge us a little better”, he explained after qualifying.

“That's what's frustrating, we work a lot, we do the tests, the meetings, we try to put the car in the best conditions... yeah it's not great to end up with this result but we'll see, that's it. is a new car for us. We haven't done any testing here either, so we're trying to play around with the settings. I doubt that everything is already optimal, and that plays a small role too, of course. We'll see after this race! »

For his part, Vergne was much clearer: “I can’t talk about it. I have a strong opinion on this but maybe I should keep it to myself! »

Now it's time for the race, which lasts six hours and which promises to be particularly hectic, on a winding and narrow track. For Stoffel Vandoorne, the race can quickly turn into a test of survival: “I hope we can finish in the points, I think it will be a hectic race, with the traffic, all those things! It will be chaos I think, once we start getting back to the LMGT3s there will be action! »

Training to be “impeccable”

His teammate Jean-Éric Vergne shares the points objective of the driver of the No. 94, while above all seeking to be impeccable, he like the rest of the team. The Ile-de-France native takes this event as an opportunity to maximize all aspects of performance, without feeling the pressure of a big result, which was in sight in Qatar before running out of fuel in the final minutes.

“We're going to fight for points, that's the objective, open the clock, and forget the performance side a little, concentrate on teamwork, on strategy, doing the best laps at the best time. Be opportunistic, and be good at racing, the engineers as well as the mechanics or the drivers. We want to train ourselves to be impeccable so that the day we have the car to win we still are and we make it happen.

It's a very important race, which we take very seriously despite my annoyance with the performance, I am very motivated for tomorrow's race. I am committed to doing really well, I will be happy tomorrow if regardless of the result and the performance we can look each other in the eyes, the whole team, and say to ourselves that we did everything well, that's the the goal I set for myself. »

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