Peugeot notched up its first podium finish with the 9X8 in the last round at Monza, with Jean-Eric Vergne, Paul di Resta and Mikkel Jensen finishing third in the #93 car behind the winning Toyota and the second-placed Ferrari.
The breakthrough result came exactly a year after Peugeot made its WEC Hypercar debut at the Italian track, and followed a tough period in which it was bogged down by both unreliability and a general lack of pace.
With the French manufacturer having also shown strong speed in the preceding event at Le Mans, its Hypercar rivals now have a genuine reason to believe that it will be competitive in this weekend's six-hour fixture at Fuji.
As per WEC's Balance of Performance rules, Peugeot drivers will also be able to deploy hybrid power at just 135km/h compared to 150km/h, a factor that could play into its hands according to Le Mans 24 Hours winner Ferrari.
"Peugeot is a bit underestimated because as I said at Le Mans it was pretty competitive and the performance they showed in the first part of the race before the crash for Menezes was huge," Ferrari's sportscar race and testing manager Giuliano Salvi said.
"Here we need not forget but they have activation point at 135km/h in dry conditions. It could be quite an important factor. And at Monza anyway, they were on the podium.
"Peugeot at the start had quite a lot of problems for reliability, but now they seem a bit more reliable. I wouldn't be surprised to find them in the mix on Sunday."
Source: Autosport