P1racenews AI automatic summary:
After Alpine, Lamborghini and Isotta Fraschini debuted their brand new WEC Hypercars at the season-opener in Qatar last month, for this weekend’s race in Imola it’s Peugeot’s turn. With the 2024-sp…
Peugeot is set to debut their 2024-spec 9X8 WEC Hypercar at the Imola race this weekend, following Alpine, Lamborghini, and Isotta Fraschini’s recent introductions. The French team aims to transition from an “also-ran” to a contender with significant developments to its package. Moving away from the radical wingless design, Peugeot now complies with standard Hypercar tire sizes and undertook a massive ground-up redesign in the past months. Only a few elements carry over from the previous iteration, with practically every surface on the new 9X8 being new. Despite focusing on durability during testing, reliability issues plagued the original 9X8, making it challenging to compete against more conventional rivals. As Peugeot gears up for its first race with the revamped 9X8, the team faces questions about the effectiveness of the new approach and the speed of adaptation to potential improvements.
