[WEC] Peugeot Sport returning to WEC

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Hawkwood

Thanks, I assumed he must have been excellent to get that jump up.


I normally watch the ELMS, but I didn't catch any of it last year, so his quality had passed me by.

With nothing to go to and my son spannering for Nielsen, I watched pretty much everything, practice, qually and all - and the Michelin Le Mans cup too. The coverage with the RLM commentators was first rate. I enjoyed it a lot.

Originally Posted by Mike E

And he will probably have another 2 years in LMP2 anyway.

Realistically, yes.

[TF110]

Quality lineup. They don't need superstars, just fast consistent drivers who know how to manage their cars through long stints and slower traffic.

[Coach Ep]

A bit of a surprise non of the Toyota factory drivers was lured over, they must have a ton of hybrid (development) experience.



And no 'carry over' drivers from the LMP1 era either, I'd at least expected Bourdais or Pagenaud to be included as anchor man - guess Duval gets that role now. Also no Grossjean, Pla, Laurent or other fast Frenchman, which seems odd.

[Aysedasi]

I was thinking that Pagenaud has probably had his time in the top flight (probably Bourdais as well), but then wondered if the same could be said about Duval? To be honest, I never expected Grosjean, I suspect he thinks there is still some single seater life in him yet. Laurent would have been an obvious one though.

[Gingers4Justice]

Laurent’s star seems to have faded, strangely.

[Aysedasi]

It does, doesn't it? Where did he do after being Toyota's reserve?

[S griffin]

He never seemed to recover from being dropped. It's a mystery what happened to him, he could have helped Toyota a lot

[Mike E]

Some thoughts from Menezes on Peugeot (and Glickenhaus).

https://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/...g-lap/5368149/

[JoeW04]

Originally Posted by S griffin

He never seemed to recover from being dropped. It's a mystery what happened to him, he could have helped Toyota a lot

He had that accident at spa that was his fault was it not? Inpatient in traffic if I remember correctly and completely destroyed the car? Happy to be corrected

[greenmachinets040]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Very interesting lineup, I’m sure Vergne and Magnussen will need time to get up to speed, but Duval should be ok. Di Resta will be one to watch. How the others will get on I don’t know, but they should be alrighty. We’ll see if Rossiter will get a chance to race it

Anyway look forward to see how testing goes

It is actually funny how former F1 drivers telling everyone how to drive in endurance racing

They d better take care if they can get up to speed..
They should step down and respect sportscar racing.

[Adam43]

Is that what they are doing? Who are you talking about?

[TF110]

I thought Magnussen did well in the D24...?

[Mike E]

Looks like some work being done on seating positions and simulations.

https://twitter.com/peugeotsport/sta...175438849?s=19

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Mike E

Looks like some work being done on seating positions and simulations.

https://twitter.com/peugeotsport/sta...175438849?s=19

Is he sitting in a tub in that 4th pic? And of what?

[hondafan37]

They are already building a chassis? If they are so fast, full season 2022 would be possible.

[canaglia]

Originally Posted by hondafan37

They are already building a chassis? If they are so fast, full season 2022 would be possible.

a full 2022 WEC is what they are going to do according to their claims.
That carbon tub could basically be everything and nothing at the same time, anyway since they are going to test by the end of the year, for sure they should be in advanced stages of chassis, aero, ICE and hybrid development.
Wonder if they will stick to the planned 2.6L now that toyota went to larger 3.5L

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by canaglia

a full 2022 WEC is what they are going to do according to their claims.

Not seen this confirmed anywhere? Hope it ends up being the case.

Even if they aren't as competitive as they'd like - all that extra track time will be a big advantage when the competition ramps up in '23.

[Mike E]

Originally Posted by joeb

Is he sitting in a tub in that 4th pic? And of what?

Probably something they had lying around just for use in the simulator.

[Mike E]

Originally Posted by Simmi

Not seen this confirmed anywhere? Hope it ends up being the case.

Even if they aren't as competitive as they'd like - all that extra track time will be a big advantage when the competition ramps up in '23.

Not sure about this either but that Menezes article says,

'Peugeot's 2022 race line-up is completed by Jean-Eric Vergne, Kevin Magnussen, Paul di Resta, Mikkel Jensen and Loic Duval, with James Rossiter named as reserve driver.'
and
'"At the time I signed with Glickenhaus, I was looking for a commitment for this year, and Peugeot was looking for a commitment for next year, so it all just lined up perfectly."

But does that mean a 2022 race program or a 2022 development program?

[canaglia]

PEUGEOT SPORT: PIONEERING PERFORMANCE AGAIN

“Thanks to the commitment and passion that drives everyone at PEUGEOT SPORT, the motorsport division of PEUGEOT has enjoyed success at the very highest level in numerous types of motorsport. Inspired by our heritage and expertise in the field of hybridisation, we are returning to the prestigious, exacting FIA World Endurance Championship with an LMH car in 2022.”

from https://media.peugeot-sport.com/en/D...k=66561bbb7836


Sure, nothing is carved in the stone these days but peugeot intention to return in 2022 is basically confirmend. It's not they were going to invest tons of money if they didn't even know the exact year. I'm always concerned about ligier role in the equation since they were hired as technical partner when onroak is the first that actually needs technical partners to operate...

[kdr]

I sort of feel anyone with a serious eye on winning races in 2023 needs to be competitively racing in some form/and at some point in 2022.

[canaglia]

Originally Posted by kdr

I sort of feel anyone with a serious eye on winning races in 2023 needs to be competitively racing in some form/and at some point in 2022.

Not so sure about that, I think it will be much more important to find soon a bullet-proof reliability than aiming for the best performance also because bop could give benefits or disadvantage a car or another race by race.
Recall in 2012 a fresh and debuting TS030 shown to be already more competitive than R18 etron despite a worse reliability and fuel efficiency

[CTD]

Originally Posted by canaglia

Not so sure about that, I think it will be much more important to find soon a bullet-proof reliability than aiming for the best performance also because bop could give benefits or disadvantage a car or another race by race.
Recall in 2012 a fresh and debuting TS030 shown to be already more competitive than R18 etron despite a worse reliability and fuel efficiency

One does not exclude the other.
It has been proven multiple times that testing does not spawn the same results as racing. The two most obvious factors that racing can provide compared to testing is contact with other cars and debris on track (rubber and car pieces). How many times have we not seen cars loose the race because of overheating-long cleaning pit stops or simply spending too much time in pit trying to repair damage from either a tire blowing up or contact with other cars.

I agree with kdr. If you want to be a serious contender for 2023, some sort of racing action should be faced in 2022 - giving you the chance to adapt the car for 2023.

I applaud Peugeot for stepping up a year in advance.

[canaglia]

Maybe I didn't explain well, of course is important for peugeot getting racing experience in 2022 to be more competitive the next year, even if they won't be able to "adapt" the car for 2023 anyhow because it's not like previous lmp1 specs since everything will be frozen for years with no development room unlike at example porsche 919 that debuted in 2014 that was then basically written off and replaced by a whole fresh new car for 2015.
I was meaning that in a context with bop that can heavily influece performances status quo, main goal should be the one to reach bullet-proof reliability ASAP. Bop can let a car being 1 second faster or 3 slower race by race but reliability can't be bopped.

[CTD]

Originally Posted by canaglia

Maybe I didn't explain well, of course is important for peugeot getting racing experience in 2022 to be more competitive the next year, even if they won't be able to "adapt" the car for 2023 anyhow because it's not like previous lmp1 specs since everything will be frozen for years with no development room unlike at example porsche 919 that debuted in 2014 that was then basically written off and replaced by a whole fresh new car for 2015.
I was meaning that in a context with bop that can heavily influece performances status quo, main goal should be the one to reach bullet-proof reliability ASAP. Bop can let a car being 1 second faster or 3 slower race by race but reliability can't be bopped.

I will agree with you on that. BoP will ensure a level playing field (sort of, let us not forget the Ford GT).
However any manufacture will without a doubt be allowed to make changes to a car to ensure reliability aspects. Therefore getting the car our in racing conditions - find the reliability and the servicing issues in the year before the big race. Adapt the car, but with the same homologation and have the car BoPed to become level with the new entries.

Another point - how many people from the 908 program is involved with the LMh program? If I recall correctly, the 908 program was cannibalised by Audi, Porsche and Toyota once the closure was announced.