The French manufacturer’s motorsport boss, Jean-Marc Finot, has revealed that the in-house Peugeot Sport team is undertaking what he described as a “big evolution” of the 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar, which made its debut in the World Endurance Championship last summer.
He revealed that the overhaul of a design that has so far finished no better than third in the Hypercar class of the WEC will include a switch away from the same width tyres all round for which the 9X8 hybrid was conceived.
Rather than running the 31cm Michelins on both the front and rear axles, Peugeot will move to the narrower front tyres (29cm) and wider rear tyres (34cm) run by the Toyota and Ferrari LMHs as well all LMDh machinery.
Finot would not reveal whether or not the revised 9X8, which will exploit the ‘evo joker’ rules that allow five performance upgrades during the life cycle of an LMH or LMDh, will run a conventional rear wing.
Autosport understands, however, that an updated version of the 9X8 will begin testing with a rear wing as soon as Peugeot Sport kicks off its winter development programme in the wake the final round of the 2023 WEC this weekend in Bahrain.
“We have made the decision to design the car again,” said Finot in Bahrain. “We will come with a strong evolution for next year to enjoy the 29/34 tyres.
“At Peugeot Sport we are fighters, so we made the decision to make a big evolution of the car because we want to be back with the front-runners.”
On the subject of a rear wing, he remained noncommittal.
Source: Autosport