Ahead of their appearance on track, Peugeot has announced their seven-strong driver line-up. It has been confirmed that Kevin Magnussen, Paul di Resta and Jean-Eric Vergne will share the Peugeot cockpit for their FIA World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans efforts.
Although Loic Duval, Gustavo Menezes and Mikkel Jensen have also been announced as Peugeot Hypercar drivers, with James Rossiter landing the reserve and simulator driver role, it has not been announce how or where these drivers will be racing. Peugeot have made their intent to have a two-car entry clear, but only Vergne, Magnussen and di Resta have officially been confirmed to take part in WEC and Le Mans.
Jean-Marc Finot, Director of motorsport of the new Peugeot parent company Stellantis, said: “Over and above their individual racing skills, the main criteria we took into account when assessing and talking with drivers were the ties they have with each other, their mind-set and their ability to work together to motivate and help take the team forward, because the human factor plays such a big part in endurance racing. We also wanted to establish that they saw their commitment with us as a priority and not just a line on their CV.”
“We didn’t just take individual results into consideration, we also examined the speed, consistency and reliability of a long list of drivers, because we are looking for a line-up that meshes together well, with an eclectic mix of upcoming youngsters and experienced campaigners with proven development skills, especially in the field of hybrid powertrains.” Technical Director of the WEC project at Peugeot Sport, Olivier Jansonnie added.
The seven announced drivers come with a host of racing experience, including Le Mans overall victories and WEC wins. Magnussen, the driver with the least amount of sportscar racing experience, looks to be using 2021 to try and gain some ahead of his Peugeot appearance.
The Peugeot Hypercar is due to start testing towards the end of 2021, with Peugeot expected to announce when it will have its on-track debut early 2022.
