Loic Duval has conceded that Peugeot is “missing efficiency” heading into this week’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
Duval made that remark after a tough outing for Peugeot within the conventional Le Mans take a look at on Sunday, the place the 2 9X8s completed nineteenth and twenty first amongst 21 automobiles within the Hypercar class.
Extra concerningly, each automobiles had been over three seconds slower than the chart-setting #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, which topped the session within the palms of Brendon Hartley.
The poor exhibiting continues a disappointing run of type for the French producer within the 2025 World Endurance Championship, the place its manufacturing facility crew has but to complete greater than ninth throughout the opening three rounds.
Though Peugeot may have additional alternatives to hone the automobile in apply on Wednesday and Thursday, Duval gave a bleak outlook about Peugeot’s prospects for the 93rd operating of Le Mans.
“The observe was fairly good from the beginning, with respectable grip,” stated Duval, who received Le Mans outright with Audi in 2013.
“We went via our deliberate take a look at program with totally different slick tires and varied automobile setups. We additionally did lengthy runs and accomplished the variety of stints we aimed for on a single set of tires to organize for the race.
“The automobile has an excellent steadiness, however we’re nonetheless missing efficiency. It’s as much as us to extract essentially the most from our bundle.”
Mikkel Jensen, who shares the #93 automobile with Paul di Resta and Jean-Eric Vergne, was extra optimistic about Peugeot’s probabilities, saying “The observe has modified barely in comparison with final yr, particularly the doorway to the Porsche Curves which is now much less bumpy and due to this fact quicker, and the exit of Tertre Rouge which has smoother tarmac.
“We are able to now run the automobile a bit decrease, which improves its conduct throughout your entire circuit. The engineers will now analyze the info for Wednesday.”
