Team Peugeot TotalEnergies closed the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship with its best result of the year at Monza. Both Peugeot 9X8 Hypercars scored points in the six-hour finale. The #94 car was classified fourth and the #93 finished eighth. The team says a disputed penalty cost the #93 crew a higher place.

Peugeot finished a difficult season on a high note. At the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza on Sunday, the French manufacturer got both 9X8 Hypercars into the points. That gave Team Peugeot TotalEnergies its best finish of the 2026 FIA WEC campaign.

A circuit that suited the 9X8

Monza is known as the “Temple of Speed”. With its fast layout and newly resurfaced track, it looked a good match for the Peugeot 9X8 from the first sessions. According to the team, the car’s pace showed both in wet Free Practice and in dry conditions during Hyperpole. The two cars started fifth and ninth on the grid.

Rain had fallen earlier in the weekend, but Sunday’s race ran in dry, settled weather. The crews had done few long runs on slick tyres before the race. Even so, both cars moved into the top 10 early and stayed there through a race with several neutralisations.

Both cars in the top five at half distance

At the halfway point, both 9X8s were running inside the top five. The #94 car of Loïc Duval, Théo Pourchaire and Malthe Jakobsen crossed the line fifth after a hard fight in the closing laps. Post-race penalties to other competitors then moved it up to fourth.

Nick Cassidy, Paul Di Resta and Alex Quinn ran in the top five for much of the race in the #93 car and finished eighth. A 10-second penalty stopped them from finishing higher.

A penalty the team disputes

Team Principal Emmanuel Esnault said the team achieved its target for the weekend. He also explained why he was unhappy with the decision against the #93:

“I do have one regret regarding the penalty handed to the #93. We were notified of it three laps before our pit stop and served it immediately, only to discover afterwards that it had been assigned to the wrong car. Unfortunately, it was too late to challenge the decision.”

Esnault said the team’s goal had been to put both cars into Hyperpole and have at least one in the top five at the finish. He said: “we achieved that.”

Di Resta said the result was disappointing because the car had been fourth on merit after three hours. Cassidy said: “I genuinely think we deserved more, but that’s racing.”

Farewells and first seasons

The race was Malthe Jakobsen’s last with the team, after what he called “four wonderful years”. He described a late battle with Alex Lynn as “very intense” and called it a racing incident. Jakobsen added that he was moved to see Danish flags waiting when he returned to the garage.

The finale also ended Théo Pourchaire’s first season in the FIA WEC. Alex Quinn used the race to gain more experience in the 9X8 ahead of next year. He said that completing his first race laps at Monza in dry conditions was a challenge.

Looking towards 2027

The team says its focus is now fully on the 2027 season. According to Di Resta, the winter will be busy with work on an EVO version of the car. Duval said he believes the Monza result will give the team “positive momentum” as it prepares for next year.

Facts: Peugeot 9X8 at the 2026 Monza WEC finale

  • Race: FIA WEC season finale, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, six hours
  • #94 (Duval, Pourchaire, Jakobsen): started fifth or ninth (the release does not say which car started where), crossed the line fifth, classified fourth after post-race penalties
  • #93 (Cassidy, Di Resta, Quinn): finished eighth after a 10-second penalty
  • Result: Team Peugeot TotalEnergies’ best finish of the 2026 season

Peugeot’s next racing outing will be the 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

Source: www.media.stellantis.com