8 Hours of Bahrain: final qualifying of the season for Team Peugeot TotalEnergies

• The Sakhir circuit, scene of the FIA WEC final
• Team Peugeot TotalEnergies will start from the 5th and 6th rows
• Suivez en direct les 8 Heures de Bahreïn demain à partir de 14h (heure locale)

The Bahrain International Circuit is the scene this weekend of the final of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the last race of the 2023 season for Team Peugeot TotalEnergies.

After three free practice sessions, where the two PEUGEOT 9X8s made their mark on this 5,412km circuit, it’s time for qualifying for Team Peugeot TotalEnergies.

Paul Di Resta, at the wheel of the #93 PEUGEOT 9X8 and Nico Müller aboard the #94 set off for fifteen minutes of qualifying alongside the ten other Hypercars taking part in this final round. The qualifying session was complicated for the two PEUGEOT 9X8s, with a slight exit from the track by Nico Müller on the #94 in his fast lap due to a furtive loss of steering assistance and Paul Di Resta on the #93 who, at the attack to compensate for the traction deficit at low speed, could not achieve a clear lap. The Bahrain circuit is renowned for being complex, particularly in tire management, which will be one of the key elements for running a regular race tomorrow.

At the end of this session, Paul Di Resta ranked 10th with the #93 PEUGEOT 9X8 followed by Nico Müller in 11th place.

The start of this last round of the season will be given tomorrow at 2 p.m. local time (12 p.m. CEST) and you will be able to follow the 8 hours of racing of the PEUGEOT 9X8 #93 and #94 live on the FIA WEC platforms or on social networks of Peugeot Sport.

THEY SAID

Jean-Marc Finot – Stellantis Motorsport Senior VP :  « The ranking for this qualifying session is comparable to that of Fuji two months ago. The conditions were roughly equal, so there are no surprises regarding the result. It’s a circuit that is complex for us because we are penalized by a deficit of traction in the low-speed corners where we cannot, by regulation, use the driven front wheels. This route has seven compared to only two at Monza. This morning, during FP3, we were on the pace, however managing tire degradation will be essential tomorrow and we are counting on the race events to take advantage of the opportunities to achieve the best possible result.» 

Paul Di Resta – PEUGEOT 9X8 #93 :  « It was a complicated session, we were quite aggressive on certain points but the car was difficult to drive. Tomorrow’s race lasts 8 hours, it will be long and demanding for the car and the team, both physically and mentally. We still have work to do but we are doing our best. We will see what we can do between now and tomorrow in order to move forward and be able to capitalize as much as possible during the race.»

Nico Müller – PEUGEOT 9X8 #94 : « My session was a little more eventful than expected! I lost power steering on my fast lap, so it became more complicated when we got to T12 and T13, one of the fastest sections of the circuit. I had to go off track slightly and then reset the car and we couldn’t get the tires back into optimal condition for the rest of the session. We tried things afterwards but with this problem it was more difficult to maximize all the settings. I still think that we have made some improvements since the start of the weekend and it would have been nice to be able to get a little closer to the leading pack, but we remain focused on tomorrow’s race.»