Peugeot Loses Top-Three Grid Position at COTA

Peugeot’s No. 93 entry has been moved to the rear of the Hypercar field for Sunday’s Lone Star Le Mans round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, costing the car a top-three starting position at the Circuit of The Americas.

Jean-Eric Vergne had qualified the No. 93 Peugeot 9X8 third behind a pair of Ferrari 499Ps, the No. 83 and No. 51 cars of Robert Kubica and Antonio Giovinazzi respectively, in a Hyperpole shootout characterized by mixed conditions.

But Vergne set his best qualifying time after having been shown the black-and-orange flag for not having his car’s rear rain light illuminated despite instructions from the race director to do so.

As a result, the No. 93 car was subsequently stripped of its qualifying times, moving it to 18th and last of the Hypercars on the grid for Sunday’s six-hour race.

The relevant stewards’ bulletin read: “At the start of the Hypercar Qualifying session, the race director declared the track conditions as wet. Car 93 was released from its pit and participated in the session.

“Approximately one and a half minutes into the session, the race director informed Car 93 that its rain light was not functioning and instructed the team to activate it. Despite this request, Car 93 failed to illuminate the rain light and subsequently received a second instruction from the race director.

“During the hearing [with the stewards], both the driver and the team manager of Car 93 confirmed receipt of these instructions and explained that, despite their best efforts, they were unable to activate the rain light during the Qualifying session.

“In addition, the team manager explained to the stewards that, before the start of the Hypercar Hyperpole session, the team believed the issue had been resolved, and Car 93 was released to take part in the session.

“However, the rain light remained inoperative, and approximately one and a half minutes into the session, the race director again issued a message instructing the team to activate it. After five more minutes, the race director was compelled to display the black and orange flag to Car 93.

“Having considered the matter extensively, the stewards determined that the rain light of Car 93 was required to remain operational and illuminated throughout both sessions, and that it was the responsibility of the team to ensure that its car complied with the applicable regulations.

“The stewards therefore decided to cancel all lap times set by Car 93 in both the Hypercar Qualifying and the Hypercar Hyperpole sessions.”

It means the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 is promoted to third on the grid, ahead of the No. 50 Ferrari and the No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche.

RESULTS: Qualifying (Revised)