Peugeot Sport has recently announced one of the successful testing of the new model 9X8 HyperCar. The testing drive occurred at the Motorland Aragon. Though the team hasn’t come out with any official date of the cars’ debut yet, it has dismissed the speculation of starting as the 2022 FIA WEC season-opener at the Sebring, this March.
The Official Declaration
Jean-Marc Finot, the director of Stellantis Motorsport, has recently made an official statement by saying that, the Peugeot TotalEnergies team is not going to join the first round of the total six in the 2022 racing calendar, scheduled to kick off this March at Sebring, Florida. He also added that the 9X8 model is going to make its racing debut solely on the basis of its readiness, competitiveness, and reliability levels. The organizers of the championship are going to keep a tab of the development program of the model and deliver regular updates on the progression. Peugeot also confirmed that this new car model is testing without any rear wing, which is in its conceptual stage. The finalized version of the car will be submitted for homologation, after a series of continuing test programs.
The Features of the Model
Designed as per the Le Mans Hypercar ruleset of ACO, the 9X8 model features a powertrain, combining a rear-mounted 2.6-liter bi-turbo petrol V6. It delivers power over 680 hp or 500 kW. It also comes with all-wheel drive transmission and a front-mounted 200 kW motor-generator unit. Peugeot Sport, TotalEnergies, and its subsidiary Saft have jointly developed the high-density battery of the racing car. According to Olivier Jansonnie, the Technical Director of Peugeot Sport’s WEC program, the configuration of the 9X8 model is completely permitted by the ACO/FIA hypercar regulations. After homologation, the rudimentary design of the final 9X8 model will be sealed for the next 3 years, until 2025.