The opening round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship did not go in favor of Team Peugeot TotalEnergies. The race unfolded in changing conditions and, despite the strong commitment from the team and its six drivers at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, neither of the two PEUGEOT 9X8 managed to finish inside the top 10.
Starting from fourth on the grid, the PEUGEOT 9X8 #94 lost two positions at the start and a further four following the first pit stop. Loïc Duval was running in 10th place when he handed over to Théo Pourchaire after a double stint on medium tyres. The Frenchman, also on mediums, climbed up to seventh before passing the car on to Malthe Jakobsen. The Dane then fought hard all the way to the chequered flag, eventually finishing 12th.
Meanwhile, the PEUGEOT 9X8 #93 experienced a very different start to the race. From 15th on the grid, Paul Di Resta gained a position on the opening lap and another after the first pit stop. The #93 was running 12th after two hours of racing when Nick Cassidy got caught out on cold tyres and spun on pit exit. The car dropped to 16th before Stoffel Vandoorne took over for a final double stint on soft tyres.
Following contrasting qualifying performances, the team opted for different race strategies on each car, aiming to consolidate the position of the #94 while enabling the #93 to move up the order.
In a race where key moments did not fall their way, the team remains fully committed and focused on the rest of the season. The next round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship will take place at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit (Belgium) on Saturday, May 9.
Emmanuel Esnault, Team Principal
“This is a disappointing result as we were not able to convert our strong qualifying performance into race results. We now need to analyze both performance and strategy to understand what happened. There is a lot of work ahead, and the team remains fully committed and focused on the upcoming rounds, starting with Spa-Francorchamps.”
Loïc Duval (PEUGEOT 9X8 #94)
“I had a good start, but I knew it would be difficult to keep some of the cars behind. We made a small strategic mistake during the pit stop and lost four positions. We were also lacking a bit of pace.”
Malthe Jakobsen (PEUGEOT 9X8 #94)
“A very tough day with both PEUGEOT 9X8s outside the top 10. We leave with zero points, which is not the start to the season we were hoping for. I’ll take the positives from qualifying and now we look ahead to Spa-Francorchamps.”
Théo Pourchaire (PEUGEOT 9X8 #94)
“My pace was good in the first stint, but I struggled to overtake an Aston Martin on this very narrow track. Traffic is tricky to manage, especially with the GT3 cars. Tyre management is also quite challenging.”
Paul Di Resta (PEUGEOT 9X8 #93)
“It’s always difficult starting that far back, but we were making good progress following the team’s plan. Unfortunately, Nick made a small mistake on cold tyres exiting the pits. It’s his first race, it’s not easy.”
Nick Cassidy (PEUGEOT 9X8 #93)
“This is not the race I was hoping for in Imola. I had a spin on my out lap which compromised the rest of my stint. It’s frustrating because we could have achieved a better result.”
Stoffel Vandoorne (PEUGEOT 9X8 #93)
“The start of my double stint was in light rain and we were among the quickest in those conditions. Unfortunately, we were already too far down the order and there was nothing more we could do. It was not the race we were hoping for. I am looking forward to Spa.”
