1812 km of Qatar: The Peugeot TotalEnergies Team wants to capitalize on the momentum

After an encouraging end to the 2024 season, capped by a podium at the 8 Hours of Bahrain, the Peugeot TotalEnergies Team wants to capitalize on the momentum to kick off the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season at the 1812 km of Qatar.“2025 is a year we’re approaching with determination“, says Jean-Marc Finot, Senior VP of Stellantis Motorsport. “We had a strong finish to the 2024 season with a fourth place at Fuji and a third at Bahrain, where the whole team was in operational excellence, both in terms of strategy and execution. Now, we need to find a little more performance. A suspension-focused Joker will be deployed starting from Qatar.”During the off-season, the Peugeot TotalEnergies Team continued developing the PEUGEOT 9X8 with two test sessions. “A long endurance session at the Castellet, which allowed us to work on reliability and confirmed the significant progress made in this area“, confirms Olivier Jansonnie, Technical Director of Peugeot Sport. “We also had a test day in Qatar in January with two cars, which was very instructive for us, as the PEUGEOT 9X8 2024 version hadn’t been updated at this track last year. Losail is a unique circuit.” The Losail International Circuit (5.418 km, 16 corners) is flat, with very little elevation, which favors cars with good aerodynamics at a very low ride height. “But the curbs still require the car not to be set too low“, points out Olivier Jansonnie. “There is a compromise to find in the setup. Other factors must also be considered, like the large temperature variation between the start at 2:00 p.m. and the finish—around midnight—which affects race strategies, tire changes, etc.“A year ago, the PEUGEOT 9X8 #93 led the 1812 km of Qatar for 37 laps and was in second place after… 1807 kilometers! “Apart from this mistake so close to the end, the race went pretty well for us last year. That doesn’t mean it will work out the same way this year, as the car and the circumstances are different“, warns Olivier Jansonnie.” What we hope for this season is that our performance level will allow us to compete with the best and take advantage of opportunities to aim for the top steps of the podium. The goal is to be in a position to fight for the podium at every race, starting with Qatar. It’s ambitious because the FIA WEC Championship is extremely competitive. We are living in a golden age of endurance racing. We are lucky to experience this. It’s very exciting and highly motivating for the teams, but the spots are hard to get, very hard…“

Jean-Eric Vergne (PEUGEOT 9X8 #93) “Losail is one of the circuits that suits us the best with its very smooth surface, long fast corners, and plenty of straights that offer many overtaking opportunities. I love this layout, and it worked well for Peugeot last year until the end of the race. We hope to be just as competitive this year. We’ve done a lot of testing during the off-season to continue developing the car and work on small details that can make a difference. I’m excited for the season to start, and on the #93, I’m reuniting with Mikkel and Paul, my teammates from 2023.”

Malthe Jakobsen (PEUGEOT 9X8 #94) “Since the Rookies Tests in Bahrain last November, I’ve competed in the Asian Le Mans Series, the 24 Hours of Daytona, and also participated in PEUGEOT 9X8 development sessions. It was during this time that I discovered the Losail circuit. It’s a very flat track with fast corners and very little tire degradation. The team had a great race in Qatar last year, and I hope we can achieve a good result this season. It will be my first race with the Peugeot TotalEnergies team and my teammates on the #94, Stoffel and Loïc, who are very experienced. I have a lot to learn from them.”

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