Peugeot leaning towards upgrades, rather than all-new car, in WEC

Peugeot is now inclined to update its existing 9X8 challenger instead of pursuing an all-new Le Mans Hypercar for the World Endurance Championship.

The apparent shift in Peugeot’s stance follows the introduction of a new clause in the 2026 technical regulations, allowing struggling manufacturers to request additional evo joker upgrades beyond their original allocation. The rule states that “Additional Evolutions extensions (EVO Jokers) can be granted for a demonstrated significant lack of performance as determined by the governing body.”

This is particularly significant for Peugeot, which is understood to have used both its homologations and exhausted all five evo jokers available under the 9X8’s initial five-year cycle through 2027.

Since the summer, the French marque had been evaluating a clean-sheet prototype to replace the 9X8, arguing the car was heavily compromised by early LMH regulation changes made to align the category with LMDh. A fresh build would have required approval from the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest.

However, Peugeot now says discussions with the rulemakers centre on what further evolutions could be applied to the current car within the expanded regulatory framework.

All joker-based upgrades - whether those within the allocation or additional - must still be authorised by both governing bodies.

“The new discussions we're having now have opened up the possibilities for evolutions,” Peugeot technical director Oliver Jansonnie said in Bahrain. “What is not clear yet is the full content of the evolution that is available. We're discussing more details now.”

Asked if those discussions were also about a new car, Jansonnie added: “At the minute, they're talking about evolutions on the cars.”

Pressed further on whether Peugeot could undertake a major overhaul similar to the 2024 update, instead of homologating an all-new chassis, he said: “It could be. That’s the discussion.”

#94 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Loic Duval, Malthe Jakobsen, Stoffel Vandoorne

For most of the 2025 season, the 9X8 ran at the minimum weight and the maximum power allowed to LMH prototypes under the WEC’s Balance of Performance system.

However, Peugeot still ended the season second-last in the constructors’ standings, scoring just two podiums across the eight rounds.

Jansonnie said manufacturers unable to reach a competitive baseline should have the opportunity to improve their cars.

“Within a BoP formula, it makes complete sense that BoP is used to try to balance the cars up to the point where you need to have an evolution of your car, because your car can't survive with the maximum BoP - and that's where we are,” he said.

“What we are pushing for is that when you arrive at this kind of situation, which is ours now, you're allowed to do some evolutions on your car.”

Toyota, BMW, Cadillac and Alpine have all announced plans to invoke evo jokers to make significant revisions to their hypercars for the 2026 WEC season.

However, Jansonnie argued that frontrunning manufacturers shouldn’t be allowed additional development in a championship built around controlled performance.

After winning the 2024 manufacturers’ title, Toyota opted against updating its GR010 Hybrid, believing the rulemakers would be unlikely to grant evo jokers given its recent success.

“It was a very important milestone to have this written that when you're basically missing performance, you're allowed to do something. And I think the opposite is also very important,” Jansonnie said.

“When you're not missing any performance, you should not be allowed to do anything. That's our perspective. That's what we're trying to defend. 

“Obviously, we have different opinions with the manufacturers about this. This is completely clear and normal. I think we're moving in the right direction right now to get this common understanding of the situation.”

The original Peugeot 9X8 in 2022

Peugeot joined the WEC in mid-2022, marking its first top-class sportscar programme since the abrupt end of the 908 project in early 2012.

It had designed the 9X8 according to the initial LMH regulations, which mandated equal-sized tyres across the front and rear axles. However, the rules regarding tyre sizes and the overall weight were later changed to allow LMDh cars to race alongside their LMH counterparts in WEC, leaving Peugeot locked into a concept based around identical 31-inch tyres.

Following early struggles in the WEC, Peugeot completely overhauled its car philosophy, which relied heavily on ground-effects to generate downforce, adopting the same 29/34 inch tyre split as the rest of the competition and adding a conventional rear wing. 

But outside of a few podium finishes, the update has done little to alleviate the team’s fortunes, prompting the team led by Jansonnie to seek further avenues for improvement.

Peugeot had stated earlier this year that it is committed to the WEC for the long-term. Should it fail to secure approval for major upgrades before 2027, it will still benefit from two evo jokers allocated to each manufacturer for the 2028–29 seasons.

The Hypercar regulations have been extended to 2032, with additional evo jokers available for the final three years of the cycle. Meanwhile, discussions continue among manufacturers about unifying LMH and LMDh into a single rulebook for the top class.

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