Despite narrowly missing out on a maiden win with its 9X8 Hypercar in last month’s 6 Hours of Fuji, Team Peugeot TotalEnergies has nonetheless taken a great deal of confidence and encouragement from its best result to-date in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
After Mikkel Jensen qualified the #93 prototype fourth on the grid in Japan, team-mate Paul Di Resta went on the offensive early on in the race, outfoxing Aston Martin’s Marco Sørensen to steal third at the start. Following a safety car interruption towards the end of the opening hour, the Scot snatched second from Sébastien Bourdais in the #38 Cadillac with a committed multi-corner move that he completed into Turn Eight.
With the bit between his teeth, Di Resta then set about chasing down the other Cadillac V-Series.R of Will Stevens in the lead, reducing the gap between the pair to under a second at one stage before team-mate Jean-Éric Vergne picked up the mantle. Approaching the 100th lap of the 100th FIA WEC race, the Frenchman continued the charge as he relieved Proton Competition’s Nicolás Varrone of the top spot, prior to passing the wheel to Jensen.
Having artfully fended off a fired-up Kévin Estre (Porsche), the Dane looked set to deliver a breakthrough victory for Peugeot, but rival French marque Alpine’s decision to fit just two new tyres to its #35 entry at the final pit-stop vaulted the blue car to the head of the order. Thereafter, Jensen had to switch his focus to staving off Laurens Vanthoor in the scrap for the runner-up spoils, which he successfully did all the way to the chequered flag.
“It was a rather eventful race with many on-track incidents, Full Course Yellows and safety cars that influenced the final result,” reflected Peugeot Sport Technical Director, Olivier Jansonnie. “We partially benefitted with the #93, although others gained more than we did.
“It all came down to tyre strategy, and who could keep their tyres on the longest. We managed to hold off Porsche, who were on the same strategy as us, but there was nothing we could do against Alpine. Still, a fine second place for the #93 was a very strong result.”
Indeed, the Di Resta-Vergne-Jensen car led 61 of the race’s total of 202 laps, while the #94 Peugeot was demoted from fifth to tenth in the final classification by a retrospective penalty for a safety car procedure infringement. That followed a similarly impressive performance by Loïc Duval, Malthe Jakobsen and Stoffel Vandoorne – the latter on his swansong with the squad – to climb from 12th on the grid into rostrum contention.
Despite that disappointment, Peugeot CEO Alain Favey – who was on-site at Fuji for the event – was quick to express his delight with the display.
“Securing a second consecutive podium [in 2025] is a tremendous source of pride for the whole team,” the Frenchman acknowledged. “It rewards not only everybody’s determination and hard work, but also the steady progress of the 9X8 over the last three races. Seeing the car evolve and take a new step forward, race-after-race, is a source of motivation and satisfaction for everyone at Peugeot.”
“After our first podium of the year with third place in Austin, Team Peugeot TotalEnergies continued its progress at Fuji,” added Jean-Marc Finot, Senior Vice-President of Stellantis Motorsport. “It was a thrilling race that kept the team and motorsport fans on edge for six hours. Although the sequence of incidents didn’t allow us to win, we took a magnificent second place and will keep delivering strong performances as we aim for the top step.”
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