Malthe Jakobsen’s six-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps ended early after contact with a competitor, but the potential was great for Peugeot TotalEnergies.
Hopes were high for Saturday’s race after the team-mate of Danish Peugeot Hypercar driver Stoffel Vandoorne set the fourth fastest lap time in Hyperpole qualifying ahead of the race. The fast pace continued in the race, with Loïc Duval starting the race and keeping the Peugeot 9X8 at the front of the top five cars before the fast Thybo got in the car.
Malthe continued his pursuit of a top result, and for a long time it looked like he would be able to hand the car over to Vandoorne in a strong position, but after a safety car period he had to defend himself against attacks from a rival Hypercar, and that’s when things went wrong:
– I was trying to defend our fifth place and in the process I got hit on the left rear wheel. Nothing serious, but enough to break a bolt in the rear suspension, which meant that the wheel was no longer in place. When the guys took a closer look at the damage in the pitlane, they decided to retire the car,” says Malthe Jakobsen, who is disappointed and saddened by the end of a promising race:
– In hindsight, it would have been wiser to just let go of fifth place and move on, but in such a strong field you have to defend your territory and not just give up when there is pressure from behind. I’m really annoyed because we finally had the speed and stability, so I would have liked to give the team the pleasure of a good result – and Stoffel the opportunity to finish a really strong weekend from his side,” says Malthe Jakobsen.
Although the end of the Spa race is a bitter pill to swallow, Malthe Jakobsen and the rest of the Peugeot TotalEnergies team can clearly see that the hard work seems to be paying off ahead of the highlight of the year; the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Peugeot 9X8 has picked up speed and this strengthens the belief in a good result on home soil:
– I just need a few days to get the frustration out of my system and process everything, and then we’ll move on! The car was really good this weekend and I think we all had the feeling that things are going in the right direction. Le Mans is just over a month away, and although it feels like a long time, I’m about to do my third race – my first as a Hypercar driver. It’s going to be crazy,” Malthe Jakobsen concludes.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans will be held on 14-15 June.