Peugeot "not going to Monza to be spectators" on 9X8's WEC debut

The maiden WEC outing for the new car on 10 July will be much more than an “extra test”, according to Olivier Jansonnie, technical director of the 9X8 programme at Peugeot Sport.

“We are not going to Monza to be spectators,” said Jansonnie on Friday’s launch of the car in Portimao at which the 9X8’s Monza debut was confirmed.

“Whatever happens, we will play hard to try to win; probably we will not but at least we will have tried.

“We will try as hard as we can to race, and racing means being competitive.

“For how long in the race, we don’t know, but we will try for sure.”

PLUS: Why Peugeot couldn't afford to take a Le Mans gamble in 2022

Jansonnie stressed that Peugeot will be making its debut in Italy with “humility” when it goes up against Toyota, Glickenhaus and Alpine for the first time.

“Clearly we are really modest, but we will push as hard as we can to get the best result on the sporting side,” he said.

“It is clear the car, whatever happens with the mileage we have left on track between now and Monza, we won’t be at the level of maturity of our competitors.”

Peugeot 9x8

Photo by: Peugeot Sport

Jansonnie revealed the 9X8 test car has yet to complete a race simulation of six hours, the duration of a regular WEC event.

He explained that the intention is to undertake a full six-hour run in race conditions for the first time during the testing Peugeot Sport has planned between now and Monza.

“We will do a proper six hours at the next test probably,” he said.

Le Mans simulations will follow over the winter as Peugeot Sport gears up to contest the French enduro for the first time next June.

The first 9X8 has now completed 10,000km over 25 days of testing at Aragon, Paul Ricard, Magny-Cours, Barcelona and the Algarve circuit near Portimao.

Jansonnie wouldn’t reveal the test programme scheduled for the 9X8 between now and its race debut.

Should Peugeot want to test at Monza, it would need to do so in the coming weeks because WEC rules preclude running at a circuit on the championship schedule in the 30 days before the event.

Peugeot is now building up its two race cars for Monza.

James Rossiter, the WEC programme’s test and reserve driver, has been confirmed as the replacement for Haas Formula 1 returnee Kevin Magnussen in the 9X8 line-up for at least Monza and then Fuji in September.

How the six drivers will line up across the two cars at Monza, Fuji and then Bahrain in November has yet to be defined.

Peugeot put the names of three drivers on each door of the car at the launch, but it explained that this was to give each of its signings a presence on the car on the reveal of its final 2022 livery.