- Team Peugeot TotalEnergies ends 8th and 12th after an action-packed race that it led with the #94 into the early night
- More than 300 000 fans came over the weekend to celebrate this Centenary
- An exceptional edition and an exceptional result for Team Peugeot TotalEnergies
The 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary is over and what a race!
More than 300 000 spectators came at the track all weekend long to celebrate the Centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 91st edition of the legendary race and 4th round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. After 24 hours of racing, and to celebrate its come back to Le Mans, the two Team Peugeot TotalEnergies hybrid-electric Hypercars crossed the finish line in the 8th (#93) and 12th (#94) positions of the Hypercar class.
Beyond the result, it’s mainly the execution of the race that we will remember. After a difficult week, where the team had to deal with several incidents, Team Peugeot TotalEnergies had a fantastic race that was full of surprises. It was an action-packed event, with plenty of accidents on track and a lot of cars had to retire from the race. The changing weather conditions, with wet and dry sections made it more complicated for the drivers. The race was neutralised three times with a Safety Cars changing the orders every time.
Paul Di Resta, at the wheel of the #93 PEUGEOT 9X8 and Nico Müller in the #94 took the start given by Lebron James, NBA living legend. The two PEUGEOT 9X8 were in the rhythm and in contact with the other competitors, managing the safety cars procedures. The #93 went off track in the end of the afternoon on Saturday and was down the classification after 6 hours.
During the following hours, an audacious strategy with the dynamic qualities of the 9X8 and its drivers allowed the #94 PEUGEOT 9X8 of Loïc Duval to take the lead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and which held the front of the pack for more than 4 hours thanks to Nico Müller and Gustavo Menezes. The fans of PEUGEOT were thrilled. Unfortunately, after 11 hours, Gustavo Menezes hit the barriers at the first chicane in the Hunaudières. Thanks to the amazing job of the whole team, the car was back on track only 20 minutes after it came back in the box. In the meantime, the #93, driven by Jean-Eric Vergne, Mikkel Jensen and Paul Di Resta was running consistently and made its way through the classification to stand 6th halfway through.
For the rest of the night and early morning no major incident are to declare for the two PEUGEOT that held their pace thanks to the focus of the drivers and team. This consistency will lead the #93 up to the 5th place and the #94 on 10th position after 18 hours of racing.
However, with 2h30 to go, both cars were forced back to the garage due to an hydraulic problem. Once again, the team showed its reactive skill, already proven during the pitstop challenge won earlier in the week. Thanks to this amazing teamwork, the two cars can go back on track. And it will be the same during the last hour of racing when the #94 had to pit for an intervention in the engine.
Paul Di Resta and Nico Müller crossed the finish line of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary side by side, under the eyes of Linda Jackson, Peugeot CEO and Carlos Tavares, Stellantis CEO that came to support the team during this long week of racing.
For this Centenary, the Team Peugeot TotalEnergies received such a great support from its partners, public, fans medias… and we want to sincerely thank them for it. Finally, our partners, without whom this adventure would be possible, whom were present at Le Mans with the team to show their support.
The PEUGEOT 9X8 will be back on track in a few weeks, in Monza for the 5th round of the FIA WEC. This round will be followed by the one in Fuji and the final in Bahrain.
