Peugeot Left ‘Irritated’ As Big Spa Points Haul Slips Away

Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI

Peugeot Sport technical director Olivier Janssonie admits that the team losing a chance to score a significant points haul in last weekend’s Spa FIA World Endurance Championship round was “irritating” given the pace of the 9X8s.

The French marque emerged as Ferrari’s nearest challenger in qualifying at the Ardennes track, with the No. 94 machine of Stoffel Vandoorne ending up fourth on the grid, with both Peugeots staying in the mix for a podium finish in the first half of the race.

But Peugeot made a major strategic blunder when it failed to bring in the No. 93 car, which had been running fifth, for a pit stop when the safety car was called early in the fourth hour, prompting almost the entire Hypercar field to pit.

That dropped the No. 93 machine shared by Jean-Eric Vergne, Mikkel Jensen and Paul di Resta to the back of the field, from where they could only recover to 11th.

Peugeot suffered more misfortune in the penultimate hour after the second safety car restart when Malthe Jakobsen made contact with the BMW of Robin Frijns at Les Combes, which led to the No. 94 machine suffering terminal suspension damage.

“It’s frustrating and a bit irritating, to be honest,” Jansonnie told reporters post-race.

“We made a very basic mistake that shouldn’t happen; something went wrong with the call [for the No. 93] to come to the pits under the safety car.

“There were two laps when we could have pitted, and the one to use was the first one, which was the one that all the lead guys took. And from there, we were offset, and we had to hope something happened, and it didn’t happen.”

Peugeot’s failure to score points at Spa means the Satory-based manufacturer sits seventh in the standings, ahead of only 2025 newcomer Aston Martin.

On where the 9X8s might have finished without their problems, Jansonnie downplayed the suggestion that a chance for a podium was missed but said Peugeot’s strong pace only amplified his annoyance at the race unravelling.

“For sure the two Ferraris were flying, but behind that it was quite open, I believe,” said Jansonnie when asked what he felt was a realistic result. “Alpine was also very strong, but I think behind them, we were also looking quite strong.

“I think we had the pace from the beginning of the weekend, in free practice, in qualifying, and even during the race. Having no result to show it for at the end is very frustrating when you look at the pace we had this weekend.”

Jansonnie however was keen to highlight the increasing competitiveness of the 9X8, which is now more than a year into its second iteration with a rear wing.

“In qualifying, we are getting much better with this specific qualifying preparation, which is a very specific exercise and is becoming more and more important,” he said.

“I am happy to see what we have prepared is yielding results. This was the third race in a row we had a car in Hyperpole, which is positive.

“The race pace was also good — we are improving our understanding of the set-up, the tires. It’s so complicated now, it’s just the tiny details. But now we are better prepared, we can deliver a better performance.”

Vergne Says Time Has Come for New Peugeot

The Spa race took place against the backdrop of speculation regarding Peugeot’s future in the WEC, and whether it could develop an entirely new successor to the 9X8.

Prior to the race, after qualifying seventh, Vergne suggested that the 9X8 in its current guise will always lack performance compared to its Hypercar competitors and said he felt the time had come for an entirely new car to be considered.

“Our car needs to change a little bit if we want to compete with the top guys,” he said. “But I have full confidence in the team to do so. Let’s see what the future brings.

“The car feels good. It’s still not where I would like it to be. Every step forward is good and we take it as it is. But I’ll only be happy if we win races.”

Asked by Sportscar365 specifically about the need for a new car, Vergne replied: “A change is needed, yeah.”

However, post-race, Jansonnie swatted away such suggestions, saying Peugeot needs to maximize what it has currently before building a new car.

“We should just look at the race we had today — with the pace we had, we deserved a much better result, so let’s do this first, and then we’ll discuss it,” he said.