The Danish Peugeot TotalEnergies factory driver enjoyed great success at the 6 Hours of Saõ Paulo.
The first race after this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans turned out to be in Malthe Jakobsen’s favour. Although the Danish driver has never driven on the track in Saõ Paulo before, he and his team-mate Loïc Duval were right at the front from the start.
In his first ever WEC qualifying, Malthe Jakobsen qualified his Peugeot 9X8 for the Hyperpole competition, where the top ten cars fight for pole position for the race. He was fourth fastest and secured his and the team’s best starting position this season.
– “Being able to do qualifying and Hyperpole was great, and it only got better when we were able to be at the front of the pack. I’m very happy with fourth place, but I actually think we could have taken third place because there was more in the car,” says Malthe Jakobsen.
The good work continued in Sunday’s race, where Malthe and Loïc Duval stayed at the front of the field. Despite challenges with tyre wear and a yellow flag period where the number 94 car lost around 15 seconds, they managed to cross the finish line in sixth place and secure eight points for the World Championship standings.
– “My first World Championship point is just mega important, so this race has taken on a big meaning for me. It was a difficult track to drive on because it’s both relatively short and at the same time quite narrow, so it was a challenge to fight through the traffic, but it’s a cool and challenging track to drive on,” says Malthe Jakobsen, who also felt the special atmosphere on the track:
– “It’s been a great experience to come to Brazil and, not least, the track itself in São Paulo. The Brazilians have great motorsport traditions and there is a lot of history associated with the track, so the atmosphere was very special. It was crazy to be part of,” he says.
When the FIA World Endurance Championship continues at the Circuit of The Americas in Texas in two months, the trio will once again be complete. Stoffel Vandoorne will once again join Jakobsen and Duval, and Peugeot TotalEnergies’ hunt for top positions in the World Championship continues.
