The circuit of Sakhir will host this weekend the FIA WEC finale
Team Peugeot TotalEnergies will start from the 5th and 6th row
Follow the 8 Hours of Bahrain tomorrow live at 14h (local time)
The Bahrain International Circuit will host tomorrow the FIA World Endurance Championship season-closer and the last race of the 2023 season for Team Peugeot TotalEnergies.
After three free practices, where the two PEUGEOT 9X8 got reacquainted with the 5.412km track it was time for the qualifying session for Team Peugeot TotalEnergies.
Paul Di Resta, at the wheel of the #93 PEUGEOT 9X8 and Nico Müller onboard the #94 were on duty for the 15-minutes qualifying session, alongside the 10 other Hypercars that will take part to this last round. This session was complicated for both PEUGEOT 9X8, with a small incident for Nico Müller (#94 9X8) who went out of the track in his push lap due to a short loss of power steering.
Paul Di Resta (#93 9X8) was not able to do a clean lap as he had to compensate the lack of low-speed traction in his fast lap. The Bahrain circuit is famous for being hard on the tyre degradation and this will be a key element for tomorrows’ race, to get the best possible result.
Paul Di Resta ended this session on 10th position with the #93 PEUGEOT 9X8 followed by Nico Müller, 11th.
Tomorrow’s 8 Hours of Bahrain will start at 14h local time (12h CEST) and you can follow the two PEUGEOT 9X8 live on the FIA WEC platforms or on the Peugeot Sport social media.
WHAT THEY SAID
Jean-Marc Finot – Stellantis Motorsport Senior VP : “The result of this session is similar to the one we had in Fuji two months ago with similar conditions, so there are no surprises. This circuit is a challenge for us as we are penalised by a lack of traction in the low-speed corners. Determined by the regulations, the front wheel drive traction cannot be used in these situations and here in Bahrain there are seven compared to two in Monza. This morning, during FP3 we were in rhythm, nevertheless it will be key to manage tyre degradation during the race tomorrow and we will have to take any opportunities that present themselves to get the best result possible.”
Paul Di Resta – Peugeot #93: “It was quite a tough qualifying session; we were quite aggressive on some things and the car was hard to drive. The race will last 8 hours so it’s a long one, it will be tough on the car, on the guys, physically and mentally as well. Clearly, we still have some work to do but we can only do as best as we can. We will see what we can do overnight, and if we can move forward tomorrow to try to capitalize on the race ahead of us.”
Nico Müller – Peugeot #94: “My qualifying was a bit more exciting than needed! I lost power steering on my push lap which was tough going through T12 and T13, one of the quickest sections of the track. Obviously, I had to go through the dirt, do a reset on track and then the tyres were no longer in the window for the end of the session. We tried some things afterwards but with that issue it was difficult to maximise the setups. We did make some small steps in the right direction, and it would have been nice to close the gap at the front a little bit more. Our focus stays on the race tomorrow.”
