The 2024 World Endurance Championship met its conclusion in Bahrain with a surprise name on the podium.
Sebastien Buemi, Brendan Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa guided the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid to victory from pole position, having recovered from an early spin after Buemi was hit by an LMGT3 car at turn one.
The victory secured Toyota the manufacturers’ title over Porsche by just two points, as the No. 5 963 of Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowiecki came home second.
Porsche Penske Motorsport’s second Hypercar, the No. 6 driven by Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor, did however win the drivers’ title, grabbing the crown by 37 points over the No. 50 Ferrari 499P.
While Toyota and Porsche took their usual spot on the podium, the third step was taken by an unlikely source as Peugeot secured their first podium of the 2024 WEC season.
Tiff Needell congratulates Peugeot for their Bahrain podium after a ‘terrible’ three years in WEC
The French outfit have been competing in the Hypercar class since 2022, introducing their 9X8 machine at Monza that year. Peugeot have struggled to make an impact in the WEC, languishing mostly in the midfield and toward the back of the field.
Before the 8 Hours of Bahrain, Peugeot had only scored one podium, coming at Monza last season through Mikkel Jensen, Paul di Resta and Jean-Eric Vergne.
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And it was Jensen and Vergne who were back on the podium for the team in Bahrain, as alongside Nico Muller in the No. 93, the trio finished third for their best result of the season after the No. 51 Ferrari was hit with a penalty.
Speaking on the Lovecars On The Grid, Tiff Needell offered his congratulations to the team that he calls the ‘ugly duckling’ of the WEC for their early car design and their difficult first few years in the category.
“A wonderful final tale at the end, a nice story for Peugeot, who thanks to the fact that Ferrari used two more tyres than they should have done when heading for second place. They were given a two-lap penalty, dropped them from second to 14th and last, which promoted Peugeot to their first ever podium,” he said.
“I still call them an ugly duckling. Of course it came out grey, their first car, it was a grey colour, no wing on the back of it and I said ‘it’s never going to work with no wing.’
“I’ve tried it, I’ve had engineers stick me out at Le Mans with no wings on the back, it doesn’t work.
“So they could reward, they’ve had a terrible, terrible first three years or however many it is, Peugeot. So good for them, podium for Peugeot. I won’t call it ugly duckling again.”
Peugeot finished sixth in the Manufacturers’ Championship in 2024
Despite the podium finish, it was not enough for Peugeot to beat BMW in the Manufacturers’ Championship as the French outfit finished sixth in the standings.
It was a fairly mixed campaign for Peugeot’s two 9X8’s, as Jensen, Muller and Vergne managed to get the No. 93 into the points on five occasions.
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Despite being disqualified from the opening race of the year in Qatar, Jensen and Muller finished 12th in the standings, while Vergne was 13th as he missed the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
The No. 94, driven by di Resta, Loic Duval and Stoffel Vandoorne endured a torrid season, as they only managed one points finishes all season with eighth in Fuji.