The Role Of Aerodynamics In Endurance Racing

The Role Of Aerodynamics In Endurance Racing – After completing several thousand kilometers of tests, Team Peugeot TotalEnergies is delighted to unveil the 2024 PEUGEOT 9X8, which will make its competitive debut at the 6 Hours of Imola (21 April), round two of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship.

In order to make the most of the changes in regulations that allow the teams to produce a more efficient wheel setup using different widths at the front (29cm) and at the rear (34cm), the Peugeot Sport team has adapted the aerodynamics of the PEUGEOT 9X8. , while repairing 90% of the body, which now has a rear wing.

The Role Of Aerodynamics In Endurance Racing

📷 TOP: Courtesy of Peugeot Sport; BOTTOM: © Luc Warnotte at Monza 2022 and 2023. New versions of 9X8 compared to 2022 and 2023

Senior Aerodynamics Engineer

For the third year, Peugeot Design and Peugeot Sport have worked together to come up with a very special livery, designed exclusively for PEUGEOT’s in-house teams. The brand’s iconic lion – a symbol of speed, flexibility and power – is at the heart of the design.

After a full first season in the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship, including an inspiring performance at Le Mans and a podium (3rd) at Monza, and spending most of the 2024 season-opening race ahead at Losail, the PEUGEOT 9X8. it has been fitted with several major upgrades as it looks set to play a leading role this year in what is set to be an incredibly competitive Hypercar class with nine manufacturers and nineteen prototypes.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza 2022. The first race of the 9X8 at Monza saw the two Peugeots several times in the garage during the race with #94 leading 25 laps behind the winning Alpine A480 and #93 leaving it in the middle and race.

In its first version, the PEUGEOT 9X8 was designed using a set of specifications that meet the technical regulations created in 2020/2021. However, between the car’s design phase and its competition bow in the summer of 2022, the regulations changed, opening up opportunities to improve performance in certain areas. Therefore some design settings were revised to increase their power and meet the ambitious goals set by Team Peugeot TotalEnergies.

Race Car Builds: Champcar Endurance Series And 24 Hours Of Lemonsperformance Racing Industry

“We made decisions that are no longer appropriate now and this difference in performance was not adequately addressed by the BOP (Balance of Performance) in 2023,” explained Olivier Jansonnie, Technical Director at Peugeot Sport. “So the idea was to go back to building similar cars to our competitors, so that the BOP would be given the same treatment. That’s why we decided to stop using the same 31/31cm tires on all wheels, opting for 29cm front and 34cm rear tires. Strictly speaking, it is not a new car, as it has the same chassis, but there are many improvements. For the tires to work effectively, we had to change the center of gravity of the PEUGEOT 9X8, which meant moving some parts and simplifying others. And in order to have a better aerodynamic balance, we had to look again at the redistribution of aerodynamic loads, which led us to rearrange almost 90% of the bodywork parts, especially adding the rear wing. In addition to all this, we decided to use this new integration to add reliability and performance improvements to give us the best possible chance in the competition. “

The decision was made in March 2023 to introduce some improvements to the car for the 2024 season. Everyone at Peugeot Sport has worked hard to redesign the car at the same time as being part of the 2023 WEC campaign. “It was a project within a project, which increased the team’s work a lot,” continued Olivier Jansonnie. “But we have been able to rely on the unwavering commitment of Team Peugeot TotalEnergies and we are now looking forward to showing the result of their hard work. The objective is clearly to return to the front, to constantly fight for the podiums and even challenge for the race victory.”

This development also provided an opportunity to pursue a partnership that began four years ago with Peugeot Sport: “After a beautiful, low-profile design to mark PEUGEOT’s return to Endurance racing in 2022, then the 2023 livery produced by visual artist Demsky, celebrating both the Centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 30 years of PEUGEOTt’s one-two-three at Le Mans, this time we came up with a design that uses the ‘lion’s head’ in different scales,” explains Matthias Hossann, PEUGEOT Brand Design . Director. “This graphic design, symbolizing a ‘pack of lions’, conveys a collection concept that reflects the values ​​of Endurance racing in its entirety.

We wanted to highlight this team spirit and the wealth of talent in the team. The design is produced in different sizes and different colors taken from the Peugeot Sport color chart, including black, grey, white and kryptonite. This theme is equally applied to the lifestyle marketing products created by PEUGEOT’s graphic design team.”

Wec And Imsa Season Guide

After the final appearance in Qatar 1812km, the opening round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship – which confirmed the progress made by Team Peugeot TotalEnergies – the 2023 version of the PEUGEOT 9X8 will now pave the way for the 2024 version 6 Hours of Imola, round two of the FIA ​​WEC season, 21 April. It was Imola’s Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari that PEUGEOT achieved an impressive one-two finish back in 2011. Source: Peugeot Sport

It reports endurance races from the 80th until now with the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1.000 km and 6 Hours races in Austin, Daytona, Imola, Le Mans, Monza, Nurburgring, Petit Le Mans, Portimao, Sebring, Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps, The Glen,…

Previous Previous Vettel with first race km in Porsche 963 Next Next GM tops Michelin Endurance CupsPeugeot has revealed the aero concept of the Le Mans Hypercar that will compete in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship and at Le Mans, the 9X8. This car has a 2.6 liter twin-turbo V6 engine with a 900V battery made by Saft with a power of up to 500kW. 1 in the late 1970s.

Each manufacturer that builds a vehicle to LMH regulations, including Toyota’s GR010 and Glickenhaus 007C, ensures that the aero lift/drag targets are no challenge to meet. With the maximum energy reduction allowed by the regulations, calculations have become easier for the development team, and innovation can enter the most effective way to improve the required reduction levels.

Le Mans 2022 Q&a: Marc Maurini, Corvette Racing Program Manager

Peugeot has apparently gone for a downforce underfloor with a large rear diffuser and no rear wing, although it does say that the upper and lower body work together to generate the necessary downforce.

‘It’s a combination of low impact and rear-end work done differently compared to the old LMP1,’ confirms Peugeot Sport Technical Director Oliver Jansonnie. ‘With the new LMH law, there is more freedom in many things. The bottom is free and with the upper body work there is more freedom and there is a higher limit of downforce, and how much we were allowed to produce and we felt that could have been achieved without the rear wing.

‘Basically we have a combination of a front splitter and a rear splitter. The front of the car is very traditional. We are allowed to have one device to adjust the aero balance of the car, and this is one thing that is important to us. We have many options and that is something we will decide during the first test of the car.’

While Toyota and Glickenhaus have gone with an engine cover wing and large rear fenders to aid stability, Peugeot has chosen a completely different approach. A thin fin is placed inside the engine cover, and yaw stiffness is aided by fins positioned inside the rear wheel arches.

New Generation Car Introduces Racing Hybrid Brand

‘We have to show numerically that the car is stable in crosswinds, [so it goes from] 0-180 degrees,’ confirms Jansonnie. ‘Telling the truth is a very challenging part of the law and it took us a long time to achieve that. Conceptually, we had a very thin plate at the back, and we may have to extend it on the race car as well. In LMP1 the dimensions are defined while here we are free to do what we like but we have to show stability. We have vertical winglets on the inner part of the rear wheels which also help in stabilizing the car. As a whole, we have the same effect with a small engine cover fin.’

The team is reluctant to make the underfloor too heavy