Peugeot “Weeks” From Announcing 2027 Car Plans

Peugeot says it is a matter of “weeks” from being able to confirm its plans for the 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship season, as it prepares to give the 9X8 another major update.

The French manufacturer is going into its fourth full season with the 9X8 LMH, with this weekend’s Imola opener marking the two-year anniversary of the car’s last significant update.

While further changes have been made since, Peugeot is widely believed to have burnt through its initial allocation of five Evo jokers as well as its second homologation.

Towards the end of 2025, then-Peugeot Sport technical director Olivier Jansonnie said that negotiations were ongoing with the rule makers regarding plans for 2027 and beyond, with additional provisions being added to the regulations for underperforming manufacturers to be granted additional jokers.

Speaking at Imola on Thursday, Jansonnie’s replacement Emmanuel Esnault hinted an announcement on Peugeot’s 2027 plans is imminent.

“For this year there is no plan to use any jokers,” said Esnault. “Next year is another topic. We will communicate our plans in due course.

“The good thing is that Peugeot is committed to the WEC until the end of the 2029 season, so 2027 is another topic.”

Asked by Sportscar365 whether Jansonnie’s suggestion further Jokers were more likely than an entirely new car, Esnault replied: “We stick to what has been decided a few months ago.

“It’s a new package. I can’t give too much detail because it’s something we want to communicate in due time when we are ready and all the topics will be covered on our side.

“It’s a matter of weeks now that you will have to be patient. We will communicate when we are ready to properly.”

While Peugeot is in a minority of Hypercar manufacturers not to have used an Evo joker over the winter, minor changes were still made to the car following its rehomologation in the Windshear wind tunnel.

“The target was not to downgrade or upgrade the performance,” Esnault explained. “It was just to be within the rules and the drag downforce window.

“There are some trimmed or redimensioned parts. But if you put the 2025 car next to the 2026 car, to spot the differences, they are very minor.”

Looking ahead to this weekend’s Imola race, Esnault said he thinks Peugeot is in a tightly-bunched pack featuring the bulk of the Hypercar field, excluding Ferrari — which took a clean sweep of the top three positions in Tuesday’s Prologue — and class newcomer Genesis, which was slowest.

“From what we saw at the Prologue, there are some cars who are ahead clearly, but the rest of the pack from P4 to P15 is very tight,” he said.

“Specifically here, the qualifying result will drive the final result of the weekend because here there are few opportunities to overtake.

“I don’t like to state [specific] numbers, because it comes back as a boomerang so easily, but the goal is to deliver, focus on ourselves and execute properly what we have to do.”

Asked by Sportscar365 if he considered Ferrari the favorite, Esnault replied: “We all read the same time sheets!

“From P4 to P15 it will be a tight challenge. Within five tenths there were nearly ten cars in changing conditions. It will be interesting.”