Peugeot in 2026: Maiden WEC victory at last or another transitional year?

At the same time, Pourchaire warned against expecting consistent performance. For Imola, he particularly fears the high curbs, which historically do not suit the 9X8's suspension.

#93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Stoffel Vandoorne, Nick Cassidy

#93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Stoffel Vandoorne, Nick Cassidy

"There are going to be some races where we are going to be struggling and some others we will have a good car," he said.

"The car is better on some tracks than others, for sure. For example, in Imola, it's a bit difficult on the kerbs for us. Suspension-wise we struggle a bit. But let's see, maybe we find a good setup and we will be in the mix for some good points."

Software and new leadership provide hope

The team isn't entering the new season entirely without changes.

"The main topic was to discover the 2026 tyre compounds and all the things around it. So, how to warm up, how to prepare the tyres to extract the maximum performance of them," explained team principal Emmanuel Esnault.

"In terms of reliability, we had some test items to build a proof.  We have also got always some software stuff to develop and some setup adjustment, mechanical setup adjustment, without requiring some joker or homologation of the car."

Software development is a crucial area, as it is one of the few fields not governed by the Balance of Performance (BoP). Beyond the technical side, Peugeot is also relying on fresh leadership: the organisational structure has been reshuffled with Mathieu Neuville as the new chief engineer and Esnault as team principal.

Will that be enough for Imola? Paul di Resta, who shares the #93 entry with Cassidy and Stoffel Vandoorne, remains realistic.

"Clearly, we are still on the back foot, clearly still not as good as competition," he told Motorsport-Total.com. "Ferrari, Toyota, and certainly some other LHhD manufacturers are up the road. If we can get it into a perfect window, we can be in a position where we can fight in the midfield."

#93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Stoffel Vandoorne, Nick Cassidy

#93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Stoffel Vandoorne, Nick Cassidy

Yet, the 'Lions' refuse to give up. "if you turn up on a race weekend [having] already giving up before first practice, then you don't have the right people at the track. We are always here to do well and to be competitive," he added.

Esnault shares this sentiment: "We think that the project has got a certain level of maturity now with the fourth season of this car, even if the package is not at the moment at the level we would expect to fight for top positions.

"Of course, we aim to chase for the first victory in WEC. We know it will be tough. We all know that it's always difficult to assess where your competitors will be.

"We are all racers. We are doing this for years. What we want is to see our cars winning races, fighting at the front."

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