Might we see a radically different 9X8 on track in the FIA WEC next year from the Team Peugeot TotalEnergies Hypercar team?
Technical director Olivier Jansonnie sat down with DSC today, following the French marque’s head-turning performance at the Le Mans 24 Hours last month. There, its #94 led for multiple hours in the first half before an incident at the first Mulsanne chicane overnight.
DSC asked if he felt frustrated at this point with the development restrictions imposed on Hypercar manufacturers after their car is homologated.
“You’re stuck with your homologation,” he said. “Still, around the homologation, there are many things you can actually improve and maximise. If you look at the race in Le Mans, we did a lot of things that were very good strategy-wise, but there were some mistakes. We look at the others, they also did well but made mistakes.”
“There is still the potential to run a perfect race, which nobody achieved at Le Mans in terms of pure strategy,” he continued. “It’s frustrating because the cars are frozen and you have to expect the BoP to correct your car to the right performance level. But from our side, it’s very clear that there are many things around the car that we can improve.”
There are options before the start of the 2024 season, which range from making mild revisions to the 9X8, bringing a fundamentally different package to the table or something in between. No decisions have been made yet, he said, instead there are currently multiple directions still under evaluation.
“We would like to make up the gap with a significant development package, but there is something in the rules that needs to be negotiated with the FIA and ACO,” he explained. “We can’t disclose it. We are in this negotiation right now. The way the rules are done, we know what we are allowed to do in terms of the development of the car.
“It’s under evaluation. We have those two options, we are looking at a very basic update of the current package or a very significant development of the car. The exact position of where we are between these two extreme solutions will depend on negotiations with the ACO and FIA.
“We are open to everything and are looking at all our options.
“The commitment from the brand is still there, it’s still the same. Le Mans was a big boost for everybody. We have never been more committed than we are now to winning races and winning Le Mans.”
DSC asked if a major alteration to the car’s wing-less aerodynamic concept which relies on the 9X8’s ability to generate the bulk of its downforce through its underfloor, was part of its potential plans for a significant update. This was something that was suggested to DSC by a team source before Le Mans.
“There is nothing developed,” he responded. “We have different concepts under evaluation. The rear wing is something that was never been that important. In terms of your aerodynamic package, you have many routes you can take, what is important is what you achieve in terms of results and mapping in the wind tunnel.
“We have different tools, adding a rear wing is one, but we have different ways of achieving it. If you look closely, the parts on the track where we are missing performance aren’t the high-speed areas of the track.
“It’s a question we get all the time about this car, but it’s not our biggest concern.”
