Emmanuel Esnault, the leader of Peugeot’s Hypercar program, says the manufacturer remains focused on uncovering why Le Mans lapsed so far from the frontrunners earlier this season.
The Peugeot 9X8, which had secured pole at Spa with Malthe Jakobsen, failed to reach Hyperpole at Le Mans, with its fastest lap in the opening qualifying sitting about 1.8 seconds behind the pace-setter.
That struggle carried into the race, as the Peugeots finished 11th and 12th, placing them near the back of the Hypercar field and four to five laps off the leaders.
Even with improved single-lap speed at the next round in Sao Paulo, where Jakobsen placed the No. 94 car eighth on the grid, both 9X8s encountered greater race difficulties and again failed to break into the top ten.
Esnault indicated that the Le Mans woes are still being investigated and suggested the issues go beyond any adverse Balance of Performance constraints.
“Le Mans was, as you can imagine, a major disappointment for us at our home event,” he told Sportscar365.
“We’re putting in a lot of work to pinpoint why performance was lacking in certain areas; some aspects are easily explained, while others require deeper analysis.
“So, even if it’s in the past, we intend to fully understand it to progress, expanding our knowledge and shaping 2027 and beyond on that foundation.”
Esnault explained that the analysis is ongoing and “takes time,” a process complicated by the season’s first flyaway round in Brazil occurring only weeks after Le Mans.
“On top of that, with a racing season still to run, we must handle it smartly in terms of engineering bandwidth,” he said.
Peugeot plans a refreshed machine for the coming season and initiated testing of potential upgrades at Paul Ricard at the end of last month.
It aims to deploy extra performance enhancements rather than an all-new chassis, pending approval from the series organizers due to its gap to the benchmark pace.
“We remain committed to the FIA WEC and, of course, have ambitions because delivering results for the brand is essential and a lot of effort is being invested,” Esnault said about Peugeot’s path forward. “This is an investment, and we will keep pushing.”
In the meantime, Esnault insists the brand “won’t relent” and continues aiming for solid results in the latter half of the 2026 season.
“It’s tough, but that’s racing — you have to absorb the blows and push on,” he added. “The crew remains fully concentrated, the drivers remain fully focused, and we’ll give our best with the equipment at our disposal.”
“We certainly need to pull off some solid performances and turn the package we have into results,” he concluded.
Jakobsen, who has been speculated to depart Peugeot for Hypercar newcomer McLaren next year, echoed Esnault’s commitment to push on through the rest of the season.
He called the Brazilian round “definitely a step forward for everyone,” adding: “We must stay professional, clear our heads, and try to move past that [Le Mans] weekend while focusing on the positives.”
Jakobsen believes the series’ summer hiatus, which runs until September, could serve as a reset and “inspire people to dig a little deeper” for the campaign’s latter stages.
“Hopefully, after a break to refresh the teams physically and mentally, we can arrive strong for the season’s conclusion,” he said.
