Peugeot Completes 24-Hour Endurance Test at Paul Ricard

Peugeot has completed a 24-hour endurance test with the 9X8 at Paul Ricard in preparation for its first full season in the FIA World Endurance Championship next year.

All six of its drivers — Jean-Eric Vergne, Paul Di Resta, Mikkel Jensen, Gustavo Menezes, Loic Duval and Nico Mueller — took part in the session a few days before Christmas.

According to a Peugeot spokesperson, the single car used in the south of France this week “was able to run consistently in day and night conditions.”

The test also included some wet weather running.

It was not the first long-distance run for Peugeot’s hybrid-powered LMH prototype, which carried out a 36-hour endurance simulation at Motorland Aragon in the summer.

The spokesperson said the purpose of the Paul Ricard test was to “simulate real race conditions” as well as “prepare the cohesion of the team and validate our technical choices” for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the rest of the WEC season which starts in March.

They added that the test also gave a chance to “correct the issues” encountered at WEC events this year.

Peugeot contested the final three rounds of the 2022 season at Monza, Fuji and Bahrain but encountered mechanical problems at each race despite showing signs of competitiveness against the Toyota GR010 Hybrids.

Both 9X8s struggled on their debut outing at Monza, with one suffering from powertrain-related problems and the other from overheating, while at Fuji they experienced the same issue caused by a loose plug.

The No. 93 Peugeot was then running in podium contention at the 8 Hours of Bahrain until its gearbox faltered a quarter of the way through the race. The sister No. 94 car, meanwhile, had its fuel pump changed and finished six laps down on the winning Toyota.

After the Bahrain season finale, Peugeot’s WEC technical director Olivier Jansonnie stated the need for an endurance test before the end of the year after the preliminary race appearances “emphasized what is missing in terms of reliability on the car.”

Other LMH and LMDh manufacturers have undertaken endurance tests ahead of their participation in the WEC Hypercar class next season.

Porsche Penske Motorsport and Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing have both run their LMDh prototypes through the night at Sebring, in sessions that also fed into each manufacturer’s preparations for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Additionally, LMH constructor Ferrari recently attempted an endurance test at Aragon with its to-be-homologated 499P.