Peugeot Sport confirmed the debut of its hypercar project at the 6 Hours of Monzathe fourth scoring event of the WEC in 2022. It will therefore be the Italian event witnessing the premiere of the new Peugeot 9X8 in an event that will feature a total of 38 vehicles on the grid. The inclusion of the two LMH prototypes of the lion’s signature in the premier class of the championship contrasts with the definitive departure of Team Penske’s LMP2, so The Endurance World Championship will not reach the number of 39 registered that was given at the beginning of the season.
WEC hypercar category raises its level in Monza with a total of six enrolled, figure that has not been given in any of the three previous tests. Leaving aside the Toyota and Alpine projects, without changes in the Italian appointment, the Glickenhaus team returns to its original configuration with a single SCG 007 LMH after competing with two chassis at Le Mans. The Glickenhaus #708 will have the presence of Romain Dumas, Olivier Pla and Pipo Derani in the Italian round.
With everything, the main novelty is the addition of the two Peugeot 9X8 to the grid. The two hybrid prototypes of the French house will wear the numbers #93 and #94, but their driver line-ups have not yet been confirmed. Yes, it is true that Paul Di Resta is designated driver in #93, while Loïc Duval is in #94, but after that there is no more data. Peugeot still has to decide how he distributes his four remaining drivers and in which car are Mikkel Jensen, Gustavo Menezes, Jean-Eric Vergne and James Rossiter.
For the rest of the categories, Team Penske’s withdrawal marks the only major change in LMP2. The team has decided to withdraw its entry in the silver category to give absolute priority to the Porsche LMDh tests. Thus, a grid with a total of 14 prototypes remains in which Prema and AF Corse compete at home. The LMP2s of both teams also have an Italian driver, since Lorenzo Colombo is in the #9 Prema Oreca, while Alessio Rovera competes in the #83 AF Corse.
For its part, the two categories of GTE vehicles maintain the volume of entries compared to the 6 Hours of Spa. This implies that there are five cars in the Pro class spread over Ferrari, Porsche and Corvette, while in the Amateur category thirteen GTE are concentrated. The distribution in this case is five Ferraris, five Porsches and three Aston Martins, with no major changes in the rosters of the nine teams that manage all these cars.
Photos: Peugeot Sport / FIA WEC