BBM Sport Planning Wingless Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar Effort

Photo: Peugeot Sport

Bob Berridge’s BBM Sport is planning to enter the 2026-27 Asian Le Mans Series season with up to two wingless Peugeot 9X8s, as the first privateer operation to have signaled intentions of joining the recently confirmed Hypercar class in the championship next year.

Berridge’s UK-based organization, which campaigns the Peugeot 908 and 90X LMP1 prototypes in historic racing competition and is a widely recognized leader in the industry, has purchased multiple 9X8s from the French manufacturer.

Kriton Lendoudis has been confirmed as the first driver, having acquired one of the cars as well for the campaign.

Speaking with Sportscar365 on the grid for Saturday’s FIA World Endurance Championship season-ending 8 Hours of Bahrain, Berridge said the program has been in the works for the last three to four years but became possible when the ACO confirmed a Hypercar class with a Bronze-driver mandate for Asian Le Mans competition.

“I think it’s 80-90 percent [going to happen],” Berridge told Sportscar365 of his planned 9X8 program. “I think it all boils down to how they write the regulations.”

Berridge indicated that there are talks to speed up the Hypercars in the series, due to similar lap times produced by LMP2 machinery, particularly when the mandated Bronze-rated driver is in the Hypercar.

“The big issue is that the ACO have got to get the differentiation between a Bronze in a Hypercar and a Pro in an ORECA [LMP2], which I know they’re working on,” he said.

He explained the BBM Sport team will receive operational support from an existing sports car outfit, along with technical support from Peugeot Sport.

“It will be a mixture of a team providing the muscle, with wheel changes, fuel, a bit of technical support from Peugeot guys and a few BBM guys,” he explained.

“Peugeot are training our BBM guys now. They have been brilliant.

“I don’t think there’s any customer team that gets the level of involvement from a manufacturer with what Peugeot are involved with us. They’re at a very high level of involvement. They’ve been fantastic.”

When asked why they’ve opted with the wingless version of the 9X8, which competed in the WEC from 2022 until the 2024 season-opening Qatar 1812km, Berridge indicated it was the novelty factor of the car.

“We have a choice,” he said. “There isn’t a lot of difference between the wingless car and the winged car in terms of outright speed.

“The winged car just has a slightly bigger operating window.

“I think racing a car that’s completely unique is probably more attractive.”

Lendoudis, who began his racing career in Ferrari Challenge Europe competition before taking part in historic racing, has been a regular in Algarve Pro Racing’s LMP2 lineups in the European and Asian Le Mans Series in recent years, finishing second in the LMP2 Pro-Am class championship the last two years in ELMS.

The Bronze-rated Greek driver claimed two class wins this year alongside co-drivers Olli Caldwell and Alex Quinn, the latter driver who is set to sample the current-generation 9X8 in Sunday’s Bahrain rookie test.

Fillon: Higher Level of Interest in Asian Hypercar Class

ACO President Pierre Fillon told Sportscar365 on Saturday in Bahrain that interest levels for the Asian Hypercar class, which is reserved for privateer teams only, have been higher than initially expected, when he indicated he’d be happy with two or three cars in the first season.

Berridge said he’d heard there could be between 5-6 cars for the inaugural 2026-27 campaign.

Sportscar365 understands that there are multiple Bronze-rated drivers interested in potentially racing Ferrari 499Ps, which would be operated by AF Corse at a customer level.

Proton Competition team boss Christian Ried, whose team already has a presence in the series in LMP2 and GT, admitted it’s too early to say if he will look to run one or both of its Porsche 963s that may not be in WEC competition next year.

“It’s a year away,” Ried told Sportscar365. “I think in terms of weeks, not months.”

Fillon, meanwhile, confirmed that no auto-invite to the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be awarded to the Hypercar championship-winning team in Asia, bringing an end to speculation over that matter.

It’s understood the decision is largely due to the fact that Bronze-rated drivers are not allowed in the Hypercar class in the WEC and at Le Mans.

Berridge said he and Lendoudis would not have been looking to mount an effort in the French endurance classic anyways.

“I’ve done Le Mans five times,” he said. “Kriton has raced at Le Mans many times. Le Mans is a very expensive weekend in France.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John