Team Peugeot TotalEnergies has scored its best FIA World Endurance Championship result of 2026, with the PEUGEOT 9X8 #94 climbing from 15th on the grid to sixth place at Fuji Speedway. The sister #93 car was running inside the top ten when a mechanical problem ended its race. The weekend also marked Stoffel Vandoorne’s last outing with the French Hypercar squad.

Team Peugeot TotalEnergies leaves Japan with its strongest score of the 2026 FIA WEC season, but also with a retirement to analyse. The PEUGEOT 9X8 #94 gained nine positions during the six hours at Fuji Speedway to finish sixth, while the #93 was forced out while running in the points.

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A grid set without qualifying

Changing weather shaped the whole weekend. After a promising Free Practice 3, in which the #94 set the fourth-fastest time in wet conditions, qualifying at Fuji Speedway was cancelled on Saturday afternoon. That left the two Hypercars lining up ninth (#93) and 15th (#94) for Sunday’s race.

With the track still damp at the start, Paul Di Resta in the #93 and Loïc Duval in the #94 both ran medium slick tyres. The opening lap cost them dearly: the #94 slipped to 17th, while the #93 also lost several places.

Early promise, then an early exit for the #93

Both cars found pace quickly once the track came to them. A run of overtakes carried Di Resta back into the top ten before the end of his stint, but the #93’s race ended prematurely with a mechanical issue while it was running ninth.

“We were on the back foot at the start with the damp conditions and lost a few positions in the opening laps,” Di Resta said. He added that the car’s performance “wasn’t quite where we needed it to be this weekend”, while praising the team for extracting what it could from the package.

The #94’s climb through the field

In the #94, Duval and then Théo Pourchaire kept making progress despite a five-second penalty for contact with a GT car. Consistent lap times and what the team describes as a well-executed strategy moved the car steadily up the order as the race entered its closing phase.

Malthe Jakobsen took over with less than two hours to run and pushed from 12th to seventh. After a long Safety Car period with 45 minutes left, the Dane launched a final sprint to secure sixth at the flag.

“P6 here in Japan is a good result for the team, despite the retirement of the #93,” Jakobsen said. “The conditions were challenging throughout the weekend, with qualifying cancelled and the track still damp at the start of the race. We also benefited from the VSC (Virtual Safety Car) and SC (Safety Car) periods, which helped us stay on the lead lap and put ourselves in a position to fight for a strong result at the finish.”

Pourchaire took a similar view, suggesting a top-four finish might have been within reach from further up the grid: “Starting from 15th on the grid, it would have been difficult to achieve much more than sixth place, although a top-four finish may have been possible.”

Mixed emotions in the garage

Team Principal Emmanuel Esnault called the result a reward for the team’s work, both trackside and at its Satory base, while acknowledging the disappointment of losing the #93. “The recovery drive of the #94 from 15th on the grid to sixth place, despite a penalty, is a real positive,” he said, before turning the focus to the next round in Barcelona.

The end of a chapter

Fuji was also Stoffel Vandoorne’s final race with the team. The Belgian has been part of the programme since the PEUGEOT 9X8 was launched and, according to the manufacturer, played a key role in developing the car and in the squad’s progress in the WEC. The team thanked him for his contribution and wished him well for the next stage of his career.

What it means

Sixth place is modest in absolute terms, but it is the best the 9X8 has managed in 2026 — and in a Hypercar class where manufacturer entries are deep and closely matched, recovering nine positions without qualifying data is a more useful signal than the finishing number alone. The points also matter in a championship where Peugeot has been chasing the front-runners rather than fighting them.

Facts: Peugeot 9X8 at the 6 Hours of Fuji

  • Result, #94: sixth (started 15th)
  • Result, #93: retired with a mechanical issue while running ninth
  • #94 drivers at Fuji: Loïc Duval, Théo Pourchaire, Malthe Jakobsen
  • #93 driver mentioned: Paul Di Resta
  • Qualifying: cancelled due to weather; grid set at ninth (#93) and 15th (#94)
  • Penalty: five seconds for the #94 after contact with a GT car
  • Best 2026 FIA WEC result for the team

The FIA WEC season continues in Barcelona, where the team says it intends to come back stronger.

Source: www.media.stellantis.com