Jansonnie insists that it was “100% the right decision” to skip testing at Sebring. As a result of that call, Peugeot managed to fit in three endurance simulation tests as it strives to make the car reliable for the Le Mans 24 Hours in June. The 9X8 completed more than 10,000 miles across the tests at the Paul Ricard, Algarve and Aragon circuits, “and if we could have done more,” says Jansonnie, “we would have been even happier.”
The knock-on was zero kilometres at Sebring and a steep learning curve on its arrival for the US round of the WEC with the updated, 2023 version of the 9X8.
“Day one was not good; starting out was a bit difficult,” explains Jansonnie. “We were learning about the track and what makes it specific with regard to the set-up.”
Team attributes choosing lack of pace due to testing only in Europe
DPPI
Peugeot made a big jump between days one and two of the prologue. The team found 1.4sec courtesy of a 1min 49.302sec by Nico Muller that put the car seventh out of 11 in the combined times for the Hypercar class, though more than a second off the pace of Toyota. Jansonnie predicted after the Prologue that the rate of progress might slow, and he was proved correct. Peugeot’s best times from FP1 and FP2 were on a par with its Prologue pace but no faster, while its rivals went improved.
Jansonnie is insistent that Peugeot is “focusing on ourselves and trying to improve our own car”. That explains why for the moment he’s not making predictions about what might be possible come the race on Friday.