After Alpine announced its rise in 2021 to the top step of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the LMP1 category, it was time for the Peugeot and Total make official the start of the project with which they intend to jointly develop a “Le Mans Hypercar” in the LMH category, taking advantage of the new regulations for endurance racing.
Peugeot and Total decided to develop a car to race in the LMH category based on several criteria, one of which being the freedom in aerodynamic terms that allows to integrate aesthetic elements already seen in Peugeot models.
Already underway, this collaboration has as its first “fruits” the sketches that we bring you today and which were unveiled on the occasion of the 2020 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans that takes place this weekend.
What to expect from this competition car?
Equipped with all-wheel drive (as dictated by regulations) and equipped with a hybrid system, the Hypercar (that's what the two brands call it) will, according to Olivier Jansonnie, Technical Director of the WEC Program at Peugeot Sport, have a combined total power of 500 kW (about 680 hp), that is, the equivalent of a 100% thermal car with two drive wheels.
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The front electric motor will have 200 kW (272 hp) of power, and, also according to the Technical Director of Peugeot Sport's WEC Program, the car resulting from the partnership between Peugeot and Total will be closer to road models.
In other words, it will be heavier and have larger dimensions than a current LMP1 (5 m long, against 4.65 m, and 2 m wide, against 1.90 m).
In declarations, Jean-Philippe Imparato, Director of Peugeot, said: “this category allows us to bring together our entire company and all our entities, with resources and technologies similar to our series models”, referring, of course, to the LMH category.
Finally, Philippe Montantême, Director of Marketing Strategy and Research at Total, preferred to recall the long years of partnership between the two brands, stating that “Peugeot and Total have already enjoyed 25 years of close and fruitful collaboration (…). The competition, strongly inscribed in our DNA, represents a true technological laboratory for both brands”.