SHERIDAN, WYOMING – Mar. 2, 2025 – With ten race interruptions (Safety-Car, Virtual Safety-Car, and Full Course Yellow), the 1812 km Qatar 2025 race was eventful on the Losail International Circuit. Team Peugeot TotalEnergies managed these delicate phases well and adapted their strategies to stay in contention and finish in the top 10.
Race Overview
Qualifying in 10th position by Jean-Eric Vergne, the PEUGEOT #93 had a chaotic start, including a drive-through penalty for failing to follow procedures under Full Course Yellow (about 30 seconds lost), before being penalized by an initial Safety-Car, and then rejoining the "lead lap" thanks to a second Safety-Car. Mikkel Jensen then set fast laps – 1min42s646 on the 134th lap – before handing over to Jean-Eric Vergne, who completed a double stint, with the second stint on hard left-side tires and medium right-side tires. Paul Di Resta and Mikkel Jensen took over the wheel of the #93 to finish in 9th place.
The start of the PEUGEOT #94 was similarly eventful, with contact on the first lap. After a double stint on hard tires, Loïc Duval handed over to Stoffel Vandoorne, who continued with the same tire strategy. At 18:15, Malthe Jakobsen got behind the wheel of the PEUGEOT 9X8 for the first time in the race, completing an excellent 64-lap double night stint that he would remember for a long time. In the 8th hour of the race, after an intense on-track battle with the Porsche #5, the PEUGEOT 9X8 #94, then driven by Loïc Duval, unfortunately received a drive-through penalty, dropping it out of the points.
Technical Analysis
“It was a pretty complicated race, and very tight in the middle of the pack,” sums up Olivier Jansonnie, Technical Director of Peugeot Sport. “Losail is a circuit that doesn’t degrade tires much, so no issues with the tire quota here. However, the track changes a lot, and we had to find the right tire combinations depending on the conditions, while trying to outmaneuver the competitors within our reach and make the best use of the Safety-Cars to keep both our cars in the lead lap as long as possible.”
After over 8,000 kilometers covered in eight days on the Losail circuit, Team Peugeot TotalEnergies will participate in a development session on the Qatari track before turning their attention to the next FIA WEC race, the 6 Hours of Imola (Italy), on April 20.
Team and Driver Perspectives
Jean-Marc Finot, Senior VP of Stellantis Motorsport, stated, “The two cars finished, and they were very reliable in this 10-hour race, which is a positive point because we had to rebuild #94 before qualifying. We extracted the maximum from the package we had during the race and took advantage of all opportunities and Safety-Cars to reposition ourselves in the standings. I am very proud of the work of the entire team this week. Now, we need to find a bit more pace to more regularly compete for the top spots.”
Mikkel Jensen (PEUGEOT 9X8 #93) said, “I did a first double stint of more than two hours. Between day and night, temperatures dropped, and the track evolved a lot. It was hard to know whether to use hard or medium tires at that point. We chose to run hard on the left and medium on the right. We weren’t the fastest on track, but we stuck with it to stay in the top 10 and on the lead lap.”
Malthe Jakobsen (PEUGEOT 9X8 #94) commented, “My first double stint with my new team! It wasn’t easy with two Safety-Car periods. I had to manage the hard tires on the left and medium on the right, warming them up for the restarts on a rather cold track. I really didn’t want to make any mistakes, and at the same time, I wanted to stay in the top 10. It was really fun!”
Stoffel Vandoorne (PEUGEOT 9X8 #94) expressed, “I pushed really hard in my last double stint to recover from the drive-through penalty. I made some good overtakes, the feeling was great, and the pace was good. It’s a shame we didn’t score points this weekend. We’ll analyze everything and come back stronger in Imola.”
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