Paul di Resta spoke to reporters today, and seemingly confirmed the addition of a rear wing to the Peugeot 9X8, the French brand’s FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar, for the forthcoming season.
“But yes, it [the 9X8] will aesthetically be a bit different. I’m sure people will clearly see one thing and choose to have an opinion on that,” the Scot said when asked about the development of the 9X8 over the winter.
“But for us, it’s about making sure the car feels good, because if you give the driver confidence, that’s a big thing in endurance racing,” he concluded.
Peugeot launched the 9X8 back in 2022 without a rear wing, instead generating the downforce required by the Hypercar regulations from the floor of the car and the diffuser, utilizing ground effect.
However, this different approach to every other WEC Hypercar has not led to the results Peugeot have been hoping for. The team has had one podium in two years of competition, last year at Monza, and while they also led at Le Mans and were strong in the mixed conditions in the French endurance classic last year, they suffered pace deficits compared to their rivals, including Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche and Cadillac.
When asked by MotorsportWeek.com whether the performance in the damp conditions at Le Mans last year would have informed the development of the car for this year, di Resta said it wasn’t a focus for Peugeot.
“I don’t really think you can think about the wet too much when you go into development,” he said.
“I think you’ve just got to pray that the car works in those conditions. It always seems to have been good in tricky conditions. I don’t know if that’s a combination of the tire size difference that we had, but certainly the profile of the way it’s working in the dry, it feels very different.
“And I think that’s probably been one of the biggest things that we’ve taken into what we’re going to bring into the new development of the new car.
“We’re not experiencing anything different when we’re running in those conditions, so hopefully that will continue. But it’s interesting because when you lack confidence in the dry, it seemed to be better in the wet, and I think all the drivers had a similar feeling. So it’d be nice if that continues over.”
The fact the 37-year-old calls the development a “new car” is interesting — rather than an ‘evo’ update or a B-spec car. However, we will have to wait until Peugeot unveils its challenger for the 2024 season, as the Scot would not be drawn on this.
“I’ll leave that to the technical guys and our bosses to tell you that kind of thing [when we’ll see the new car].
“But we’ve run elements of the car, all the way through development. Yes, it does feel very different. Yes, from a driver, it gives you more feedback in the direction that we want.
But it’s been hard racing the car that we’ve had against the competition. The restraints that we’ve had, and I’m not only talking about aero, I’m not only talking about mechanical, it’s all the way through.
“But these are the things that we’ve addressed. And I guess the most important thing is that everybody from every department comes together.
“And it was a new team that designed this car. So after the data that they’ve needed to gather to go forward, they’re putting it all to use. And I guess that’s the main improvement. But I’m looking forward to seeing how it fairs against the others, and more importantly, and racing at the sharp end, hopefully,” he finished.
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