Peugeot postpones its participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Hypercar 9×8 should have entered the prestigious endurance event this year, but according to the Peugeot Sport motorsport department, the 9×8 is not yet ready to be homologated.
This year’s 90th edition of the 24 Yur of Le Mans will take place over the weekend of 11 and 12 June. For the first time, the hypercars of the LMH class are allowed to participate in the event. At the unveiling of the Peugeot 9×8, Peugeot Sport announced that it wanted to participate in this new racing series in the World Endurance Championship in 2022, of which the race at Le Mans is part. Peugeot Sport will not meet that deadline. The motorsport department indicates that it needs more time for the homologation process of the 9×8. The car’s debut is now scheduled for this summer. After Le Mans, the next opportunity is the 6 Hours of Monza, which will be held on July 10.
According to technical director Olivier Jansonnie, Peugeot Sport is currently still struggling with the reliability of the 9×8. The team therefore wants to take more time to develop the car before entering the FIA ​​homologation process. After the car has been homologated, the development is frozen and Peugeot is allowed to do almost nothing about it until 2025. With an unreliable car, that could potentially have resulted in a number of bad seasons. According to Jansonnie, the cancellation of participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans creates space to get the car ready.
Battle between hypercars
It seems to be getting pretty busy in the Hypercar standings of the WEC. Several manufacturers are preparing a car for participation in addition to Peugeot: Porsche, Toyota, Alpine and even Cadillac, among others, will be next to each other on the grid in the future. In the LMH class, the cars may be a maximum of 4.65 meters long and 2 meters wide. The minimum weight of the cars is 1,100 kilos, with the engine having to weigh at least 180 kilos. Of course there are more regulations, but the most important thing is that the manufacturers have a lot of freedom with the engine choice. As long as the power unit does not unleash more than 681 hp (500 kW) of power on the asphalt.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl