The PEUGEOT 9X8 ended 7th and 8th of the 6 Hours of Fuji
A record number of 54 700 spectators at the Fuji Speedway
The final race of the season will take place on the 4th of November in Bahrain
It’s under the eyes of Mount Fuji and in front of a record number of spectators (54 700) that the start of the 6 Hours of Fuji, 6th round of the FIA World Endurance Championship was given. The track was dry, and the temperature was closed to 30°C.
Mikkel Jensen, at the wheel of the PEUGEOT 9X8 #93 and Loïc Duval onboard the #94 started the race from the 5th and 6th row on the grid. The two drivers had a good start, gaining some positions, despite several incidents at the front and the back of the grid ending with a Safety Car neutralisation on the first lap.
Following the restart, Team Peugeot TotalEnergies had a steady race, without facing any major mechanical issues showing the improvement of the reliability of the two cars. Mikkel Jensen was followed by Paul Di Resta and Jean-Eric Vergne in the PEUGEOT 9X8 #93 car having a clean race, without any issues during the 6 hours and crossed the chequered flag in 8th position.
The PEUGEOT 9X8 #94 of Loïc Duval, Stoffel Vandoorne, running his first race with the team in replacement of Nico Müller (not available due to an injury), and Gustavo Menezes, had a consistent race. The drivers had a flawless drive, finishing the race 7th and facing a strong competition from the Hypercar class.
The 7th and last round of the 2023 FIA WEC season will take place on the 4th of November in Bahrain and close the first full season of Team Peugeot TotalEnergies in the World Championship.
WHAT THEY SAID
Olivier Jansonnie – Peugeot Sport technical Director : “It was a difficult race for us, especially because of the rhythm, that was pretty much the same during the free practices. The performance of Porsche surprised us a lot and we were not expecting them at this level, they had a really good race. Both our cars ended the race without any mechanical issues which is very satisfying. Now we have to find our rhythm, for example, here, we were behind especially in the 3rd sector which prevented us from fighting at the front. We will keep working for Bahrain, we have one test session left to try to improve our performance and make progress for the next race.”
Mikkel Jensen – #93: “It was quite a frustrating race as we did not have the performance we were expecting today, especially in our car, the #93. We need to understand why we were lacking so much rhythm during the race as during the free practices earlier in the week. We have a lot of work to do now to improve our performance before the last race of the season.”
Loïc Duval – #94: “It was the first race for me with Team Peugeot TotalEnergies. I think we did quite a good job in general. Unfortunately, we were lacking a bit of performance to fight and get a podium as the team did in Monza. We gave it our all and we did not make any mistakes. I felt comfortable in the car which is positive, and I had a good double stint, which was really important for me, so I’m quite satisfied with my preparation for this race.”
