[WEC] Peugeot Sport returning to WEC

[Pandamasque]

They may be both names from the past, but the latest podcast episode came out just today, as it does every Monday.

[Adam43]

And they were on ITV’s coverage of Goodwood. Sniff is on car years on ITV too. They seem as busy as ever

[Aysedasi]

May I just be an old fogey here and say that I haven't got the foggiest idea what/who you guys are talking about?

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

May I just be an old fogey here and say that I haven't got the foggiest idea what/who you guys are talking about?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR1e...=SmithandSniff

[Aysedasi]

OK. Never heard of 'em......

[Pandamasque]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

OK. Never heard of 'em......

Sniff (Richard Porter) is creator/author of Sniff Petrol car-related satire website and has been a key writer for TopGear and GrandTour for many years.
Jonny Smith used to be a presenter on Fifth Gear and now has his own Late Brake Show on YouTube where he late-braked a Lada Niva into a pond recently.

Both car nerds of the highest order.

[S griffin]

To be fair Ayse, S&S aren’t really mainstream, so that’s probably why you’ve never heard of them

[Aysedasi]

Well, I do step off into the occasional puddle.....

and I have heard of Sniff Petrol...

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Pandamasque

Sniff (Richard Porter) is creator/author of Sniff Petrol car-related satire website and has been a key writer for TopGear and GrandTour for many years.
Jonny Smith used to be a presenter on Fifth Gear and now has his own Late Brake Show on YouTube where he late-braked a Lada Niva into a pond recently.

Both car nerds of the highest order.

Cracking duo, they trade banter and factual stuff off each other really well. Highly amusing observational comedy in a way!

[deggis]

Video from a French magazine:

https://www.turbo.fr/emission-turbo/...09/2021-181955

(https://www.dailysportscar.com/2021/...del-build.html)

[TF110]

I hope its ready by the start of next season. We really need to see hypercar as a category conpetitive and abundant.

[Simmi]

I think a Spa debut is possibly more likely. Just my gut feeling. But yeah, we need this car to be ready ASAP!

[Steve McQ]

Today, French sports newspaper L'Equipe (not motorsport specialized at all) states that Peugeot could be out of Le Mans 2022 because of a late change in tire demensions regulation, forcing them to re-engineer part of the rear of the car. Has someone heard about that ?

I find it strange that kind of news come up in a newspaper barely able to talk about the sport, with the exception of Le Mans. Is politics already beginning to strike even before the cars hit the track ?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Steve McQ

Today, French sports newspaper L'Equipe (not motorsport specialized at all) states that Peugeot could be out of Le Mans 2022 because of a late change in tire demensions regulation, forcing them to re-engineer part of the rear of the car. Has someone heard about that ?

I find it strange that kind of news come up in a newspaper barely able to talk about the sport, with the exception of Le Mans. Is politics already beginning to strike even before the cars hit the track ?

Has Peugeot ever confirmed that they planned to enter the 2022 event?

Or is it that they planned to enter the series during the 2022 season, and people (including journalists) jumped to the conclusion of them taking part in LM24 2022?

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Has Peugeot ever confirmed that they planned to enter the 2022 event?

Or is it that they planned to enter the series during the 2022 season, and people (including journalists) jumped to the conclusion of them taking part in LM24 2022?

Nope no confirmed start date within 2022 as yet. Initial party line was that their debut would depend on testing performance. I think there was an assumption that they would be there - it's a massive missed PR opportunity if not - but this new issue makes things difficult if true.

When it says late change - have the regs been amended since the Toyota was homologated or something?

[chernaudi]

Well, LMH regs say/said max rim/tire width of 15 inches, though Toyota and Glickenhaus ran on 13 inch rims on all four corners of their car. I don't know if that rule changed or not.

[Mike E]

From LMH/LMDh unity announcement:

KEY TECHNICAL ELEMENTS

Tyres (Front/Rear Width in cm):
• AWD: 31/31
• RWD: 29/34

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2021/0...from-2023.html

Surely LMH tyre/wheel size has not changed. Toyota and Glickenhaus are already homologated for 5 years.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Mike E

From LMH/LMDh unity announcement:

KEY TECHNICAL ELEMENTS

Tyres (Front/Rear Width in cm):
• AWD: 31/31
• RWD: 29/34

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2021/0...from-2023.html

Surely LMH tyre/wheel size has not changed. Toyota and Glickenhaus are already homologated for 5 years.

The (translated) report says:
'A modification of the regulations, resulting in new dimensions of the tires, risks slowing down the development of the Peugeot 9 × 8 and preventing its participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2022'

Looking around the web, a few references crop up which might suggest where the 'modification' comes in.
In April 2021, Michelin published a press release which contained the following paragraph:
'Of the Le Mans Hypercar machinery, only the Toyota GR010 Hybrids is fitted with 31/71-18 tyres front and rear. The categories other contenders have opted for what is a new combination for endurance racing: 29/71-18 at the front and 34/71-18 at the rear. This distinction is due to the differing front/rear weight-splits of the different prototypes, while only the Toyota GR010 Hybrid runs an electrified system in addition to its internal combustion engine.'
The 2021 FIA Technical Regulations also seem to suggest that running a 31/31 or 29/34 combination is a choice of the entrant.


Hypothetically, is it possible that Peugeot were planning on using the 29/34 combination and are now mandated to use 31/31?

[chernaudi]

I did read earlier that hybrids that are AWD have to run 31/31 front and rear, while RWD are allowed to run 29/34 F/R.

Sort of makes you wonder if some of Glickenhaus' performance issues were down to tires, not just being optimized for the Toyota, but also size?

[deggis]

The current rulebook, the one just linked above, makes it very clear that it is not a choice, it is 31/31 for 4WD and 29/31 for RWD.

[Adam43]

And as mentioned, hasn’t this always been the case?

[chernaudi]

Now I'm confused, not so much about Peugeot, but the fact that Glickenhaus, inspite of their car not being a hybrid, had to run on Toyota spec tires and rims as far as size for this year. Waiver, ACO cost consideration, or is Glickenhaus been running on different sized rims all along? After all, I don't think that a Toyota spec 13 inch wide tire would fit on a 14 inch rim well. 13.5 (which it was common with 13 inch tires, such as the Audi R8, Peugeot 908, Audi R15, Lola/Aston Martin, most LMP900s and LMP1s pre wide front tire era), but I doubt 14s would work,

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by deggis

The current rulebook, the one just linked above, makes it very clear that it is not a choice, it is 31/31 for 4WD and 29/31 for RWD.

Interesting. It appears that the regulations were amended in April this year.
The version of regulations I linked is dated 16 Dec 20. The full link is https://www.fia.com/sites/default/fi...2020.12.16.pdf

In the previous version of the regulations, the choice seemed to be optional:

[Adam43]

So Peugeot were going to chose the combination that wouldn’t be expected for their car? Option 1 for a AWD car?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Adam43

So Peugeot were going to chose the combination that wouldn’t be expected for their car? Option 1 for a AWD car?

It's just hypothetical thinking out loud, based on the L'Equipe story that regulations changed.

Remember - the consensus is generally to design your build around a rear wing. Could Peugeot have also gone 'radical' on wheel choice?