Stoffel Vandoorne is eager to make the most of his Hypercar debut with Peugeot TotalEnergies this weekend at the Fuji Speedway in the #94 9X8, where he will race in place of the injured Nico Müller.
The Belgian received the call-up for this drive in the last two weeks, when it became clear that Müller (who injured his collarbone) wouldn’t be fit to race. As such, Vandoorne hasn’t had much time to prepare.
Speaking with the media at the Fuji Speedway, Vandoorne said that he is particularly pleased that this drive will allow him to return to racing in Japan for the first time since the pandemic.
“It’s great to be back here, it’s been quite a while, he said. “I have some good memories from here racing in Super Formula. Last time I was here I was on pole, but I had a brake failure in the race, so hopefully things are better this time around!”
As Peugeot Sport’s reserve driver, Vandoorne is not heading into this weekend’s track action completely blind. He has previous experience behind the wheel of the 9X8, at a test in Aragon back in March, and previous WEC experience in LMP1 with SMP Racing and LMP2 with JOTA to draw from.
“It’s not a complete unknown for me because I have raced in WEC before. I am used to it. Obviously, times have changed with Hypercar, it’s more competitive than ever. Obviously, you always want more mileage, but I am glad to get on with it. I don’t think there will be any big surprises. I will need to learn the car again in the beginning, but I don’t expect any issues. I am more focused on procedures and making sure I don’t make silly mistakes.
Obviously, you always want more mileage, but I am glad to get on with it
“It’s been a challenge because I have been switching between a lot of cars lately with the Formula E car, the Aston Martin (F1 car) and now the Peugeot. Every wheel has a different layout and each car operates differently.”
While there was no chance to get any additional track time ahead of this weekend, Vandoorne managed to fit in some simulator time last week to help him get up to speed.
Going forward, Vandoorne, who drives for DS in Formula E, says he has no preference if given a choice between competing in Formula E and the FIA WEC with Stellantis going forward.
“I’d like to do both,” he said. “I want to drive in as many programmes as possible. The more you can drive the better it is. It’s good to combine cars and skill sets. It develops your general skillset if you’re jumping from one car to another.
I want to drive in as many programmes as possible. The more you can drive the better it is.
“My future in Formula E is not only a Stellantis decision because the team is part-owned by Penske. There are more parties involved.”
Before 2024 arrives though, it is also not clear whether or not he will be called up again for the FIA WEC finale at Bahrain in November. Peugeot Sport technical director Olivier Jansonnie said it’s too early to say whether or not Müller will be ready for the eight-hour finale, but the early signs are encouraging.
“At the moment the news is good, but we will have to judge at the last minute. At the moment he is recovering very well. For now, the plan is for him to be in Bahrain, we think he will be.”
Peugeot’s wider prospects for this weekend are positive after it scored its first podium of the season at Monza last time out. The Fuji Speedway is also another circuit Peugeot has previous experience at with the 9X8.
“The car’s performance was decent here last year,” said Jansonnie. “We expect it to be a good track for us again, we are better prepared for this last year. We have been testing since Monza and have prepared the car well.”
Since the race in Italy, Peugeot has also been out testing, completing three days of running at Portimao over the summer.
“We still have to complete some mileage, we have seen in Monza we still had issues with one of our cars, so we found a solution for that that we wanted to test. It was on the shifting, which was the issue we had with car #94 in the race. We had those mechanical parts to test, to cure that issue.”
