Peugeot 9X8

Peugeot

Industry	Automotive
Founded	February 26, 1810 (1810-02-26) in France
Headquarters	France
Products	Automobiles, including sports prototype race cars
Website	www.peugeot.com

The Peugeot 9X8 is a sports prototype race car engineered by the French automaker Peugeot for participation in the Le Mans Hypercar division within the FIA World Endurance Championship. Its designation embodies Peugeot’s branding approach: the '9' represents their high-performance lineup, 'X' indicates all-wheel drive and electric propulsion technologies, while '8' corresponds to the current naming convention of their models.

Development

On 13 November 2019, Peugeot declared its intention to re-enter the WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans event in 2022 under the newly established Hypercar class. However, this launch was postponed, with Peugeot later confirming that "Team PEUGEOT TotalEnergies’ PEUGEOT 9X8 Hybrid Hypercar will not participate in the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans and will instead make its competitive debut during the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) summer season." The vehicle ultimately made its first appearance at the 2022 6 Hours of Monza on 6 July.

Following in the footsteps of the 905 and 908, the 9X8 was crafted specifically to capitalize on the new Hypercar regulatory framework. A key aerodynamic rule permits only one movable aerodynamic component without mandating its placement, which allowed Peugeot to forgo a rear wing entirely. Powertrain-wise, the 9X8 incorporates a twin-turbocharged 2.6 L V6 engine linked to a 7-speed sequential transmission powering the rear axle, supplemented by an electric motor driving the front wheels.

Peugeot initiated its testing phase in December 2021, conducting sessions at circuits including Algarve International Circuit, Circuit Paul Ricard, MotorLand Aragón, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. These tests accumulated over 10,000 kilometres across 25 days on track.

In April 2023, Peugeot announced a Lego Technic replica of the 9X8 at a scale of 1:10. This model consists of 1,775 pieces and was released on May 1, 2023.

Competition history

Within the World Endurance Championship, Peugeot fields two cars numbered 93 and 94, a tribute to their overall triumph at the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans.

2022

The driving roster for the 2022 6 Hours of Monza included Paul Di Resta, Loïc Duval, Mikkel Jensen, Gustavo Menezes, James Rossiter, and Jean-Éric Vergne. Final driver lineups were confirmed following testing. Both Peugeot 9X8 entries participated throughout the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship, featuring events such as the 6 Hours of Fuji and culminating with the season-ending 8 Hours of Bahrain.

2023

In its first full campaign during the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship, Nico Müller took over from Rossiter in car #94. The unconventional wingless design demonstrated competitiveness at both the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans and 6 Hours of Monza. Despite starting from a lower grid position at Le Mans, Peugeot led portions of the evening before encountering significant damage that necessitated repairs. At Monza, the team secured its inaugural podium finish by claiming third place.

2024

Peugeot entered another complete season in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship, updating their driver lineup with Stoffel Vandoorne replacing Gustavo Menezes. During the Qatar round, car #93 contended closely with Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Porsche 963s for victory but retired late in the race and was subsequently disqualified due to running out of fuel and failing to enter parc fermé conditions.

On March 25, 2024, Peugeot revealed an upgraded version of the 9X8 featuring a rear wing; this marked a departure from their previous wingless configuration which had faced challenges due to heavy reliance on ground effect aerodynamics, particularly on uneven tracks like Sebring. Additionally, Peugeot transitioned from using equal tyre widths (31 cm front and rear) to staggered dimensions (29 cm front and 34 cm rear), aligning with rival teams' setups. This updated model made its competitive debut at the 2024 6 Hours of Imola and earned its first podium finish at the 2024 8 Hours of Bahrain.

Comprehensive World Endurance Championship Results

(key) Entries highlighted in bold denote pole position achievements. Entries in italics represent the fastest lap recorded.

Sources:

Year	Team	Category	Competitors	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Points	Pos
2022	Peugeot TotalEnergies	Hypercar			SEB	SPA	LMN	MON	FUJ	BHR			42	4th
			Template:Country data GBRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Paul di Resta	93				Retired	4th place	Retired
			Template:Country data DENTemplate:Namespace detect showall Mikkel Jensen					Retired	4th place	Retired
			Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Jean-Éric Vergne					Retired	4th place	Retired
			Template:Country data FRATemplate:Namespace detect showall Loïc Duval	94				style="background:#dfffdf;” |4th place	style="background:#dfffdf;” |5th place	style="background:#dfffdf;” |4th place					-
							style = "background:#dfffdf;" |4th place |		-
						style = "background:#dfffdf;" |4th place | style = "background:#dfffdf;" |5th place |		-	2023 ! rowspan = "8" | Peugeot TotalEnergies ! rowspan = "8" | Hypercar |	SEB | POR | SPA | LMN | MON | FUJ | BHR |	67 ! rowspan = "8" |5th |- align = "left" | Template:Country data GBRTemplate:Namespace detect showall Paul di Resta | rowspan = "3" |93 | style = "background:#dfffdf;" |9th place | style = "background:#dfffdf;" |7th place | style = "background:#dfffdf;" |8th place | style = "background:#dfffdf;" |6th place | style = "background:#ffdf9f;" |3rd place | style = "background:#dfffdf;" |8th place | style = "background:#dfffdf;" |9th place |- align = "left" style = "border-left:0px" | Template:Country data DENTemplate:Namespace detect showall Mikkel Jensen (racing driver) | style = "background:#dfffdf;" |9th place | style = "background:#dfffdf;" |7th place | style = "background:#dfffdf;" |8th place | style = "background:#dfffdf;" |6th place | style = "background:#ffdf9f;" |3rd place | style = "background:#dfffdf;" |8th place | style = "background:#dfffdf;" |9th place |- align= "left" style= "border-left:0px"| Template:Flagicon F R A Jean-Éric Vergne | style= "background: #dfffdf;" |>9th place | style= "background: #dfffdf;" |>7th place | style= "background: #dfffdf;" |>8th place | style= "background: #dfffdf;" |>6th place | style= "background: #ffdf9f;" |>3rd place | style= "background: #dfffdf;" |>8th place | style= "background: #dfffdf;" |>9th place |- align= "left"| Template:Flagicon F R A Loïc Duval rowspan=4 94 style= background: #cfcfff; Not Classified;

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