Team Peugeot TotalEnergies looks to step out of the shadows in the Land of the Rising Sun

From sunset to sunrise. Just two weeks after the Lone Star Le Mans in Texas, the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) heads to Japan and the foothills of Mount Fuji, a hundred or so kilometres from Tokyo, for round seven of the season, the 6 Hours of Fuji.

“The Fuji Speedway is very varied racetrack, with a long 1,475 metre start-finish straight and some very twisty corners in the in-field,” explains Olivier Jansonnie, Peugeot Sport Technical Director. “Getting the balance right between maximum speed and aerodynamic downforce is never easy on this circuit, which has a total of 16 corners, ten right-handers and six left-handers. And then there’s the weather to contend with, which can be very unpredictable at this time of year on Japan’s main island, Honshu.” 

Team Peugeot TotalEnergies is preparing to contest its third consecutive 6 Hours of Fuji and is very familiar with this race, which is celebrating its 11th appearance in the FIA WEC this year. “In 2022, this was our second race and our first outside of Europe,” recalls Olivier Jansonnie. “Although we were still learning about the championship, both PEUGEOT 9X8s made it to the end. Last year, our Hypercars finished seventh and eighth after a relatively incident-free race. We’re hoping to finish in the points again this year despite the competition being tougher.”

Team Peugeot TotalEnergies will be able to count on the resilience of its technical team and drivers, most of whom have already raced in Asia and are looking forward to this trip to the Land of the Rising Sun. Loïc Duval and Stoffel Vandoorne, for example, spent several years competing in the Super GT, Formula Nippon or Super Formula championships, whilst Mikkel Jensen and Paul di Resta contested the Asian Le Mans Series before joining Team Peugeot TotalEnergies.

The first free practice session will be held on Friday, 13 September. Qualifying and the Hyperpole are scheduled to take place a day later and the 6 Hours of Fuji is due to start on Sunday, 15 September at 11am local time (4am CET), with large numbers of Endurance-mad fans expected in the foothills of Mount Fuji.

Jean-Marc Finot, Stellantis Motorsport Senior VP

“The fact that two races are being held in such quick succession means we are able to get straight back down to work. We know the Fuji track well, although not with the new version of the 9X8. We know that we’ll find it easier in certain portions of the track with the new version but we also have to bear in mind that part of the circuit remains similar to COTA. In any case, the team has worked as hard as possible between the two races to build on the experience acquired in Austin.”

Loïc Duval (no. 94 PEUGEOT 9X8)

“I’m eager to move on from our weekend in Austin, where I wasn't even able to drive the car! I'm very happy to go to Japan. It’s a country that I really like, where I have spent an awful lot of time and, as is the case every year, I'm delighted to go back. I see it as the biggest race on the calendar, after Le Mans. The team seems to enjoy coming here too. As regards performance, I think we’ll be in with a shout. It’s a track we know well and that should work in our favour.”

Nico Müller (no. 93 PEUGEOT 9X8)

“We had a decent race in Austin in the no. 93 car. We kept out of trouble but we lacked speed and that was frustrating. Of course, there were a few positive points, such as our performance in qualifying or at the start, but overall, we were short of race pace. I missed Fuji last year so this will be a first outing for me at this track. It’s specific but very interesting, with a very fast first sector and a very slow and twisty third sector. We’ll need to find the right balance. Our aim will be to finish in the points.”