Peugeot Le Mans Hypercar hybrid race car teased

Peugeot has announced the commencement of its Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) project, which will be developed with petroleum partner Total. This will be for an entry into the 2022 season of the World Endurance Championship (WEC), and one of the stipulations for this category means that there will be a minimum of 25 road-going units that will feature a powerplant derived from the race car.

The forthcoming race car will feature hybrid powertrain with a total system output of approximately 680 hp driving all four wheels, with an electric motor contributing 200 kW (268 hp) at the front axle, said technical director of the Peugeot Sport WEC programme Olivier Jansonnie.

“To this date, we have confirmed part of the aerodynamic concept, the engine framework has been decided and we have chosen the functionality of the hybrid system and its fundamental design. We still have several steps left before our debut in endurance in 2022; in studies, the production of prototypes and finally, affirmation on the bench and on the track,” Jansonnie said.

Peugeot has not revealed technical specifications on its forthcoming LMH car, except to say that it will be larger (five metres long and two metres wide) and heavier than cars currently entered in the LMP1 category, which currently measure 4.65 metres long and 1.90 metres wide, the technical director said.

The French automaker announced its return to the top level of endurance racing in the Le Mans Hypercar class, though its latest announcement did not mention an exact date for its entry into the WEC. The firm has yet to decide if it will enter races in the LMH class from the start of the 2022 season, as Peugeot motorsport head Jean-Marc Finot telling Autosport that this will not be decided until the beginning of 2022.

“Our position is the same as before. Because the car will be [homologated] for five years, we need to be sure of our design,” he said. Separately, the motorsport division boss told the website that testing of Peugeot’s Le Man Hypercar has been delayed from its first test originally scheduled for mid-2021.

“I think it will be some months later than we planned. Because of Covid we have had to postpone it, but it will be before the end of 2021,” he said, adding that “for September we will have to fight [for it to be ready] when asked if the car could be up and running by the start of autumn 2021.

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