Malthe Jakobsen delivered a lightning fast lap time for Team Peugeot TotalEnergies at the season finale in Bahrain.
The last race of the year in the World Championship series was held over the weekend, and in Friday’s qualifying, the driver from Thisted got the chance to qualify the car for the race. He made the most of the opportunity setting the third fastest lap time, just ahead of the sister car; one of the best qualifying results ever for the Peugeot 9X8:
“It was a fantastic experience! The car drove perfectly and I was able to squeeze a lot out of it. It’s great that we were able to be right at the front, and it just shows that we have really good control of the car”, says Malthe Jakobsen.
Saturday’s eight-hour race started with Loïc Duval behind the wheel, and it quickly became clear that the speed was good, but that tyre wear would be a challenge.
“We knew we were going to struggle with the tyres and it cost us a lot of speed towards the end of each stint. It also meant that we were off the pace in terms of pit stops because we didn’t do the same number of laps as the competitors, which meant that the competitors got a ‘free’ pit stop when there was a period with the Virtual Safety Car – and that cost us dearly,” says Malthe Jakobsen.
The Virtual Safety Car period sent the driver from sixth to ninth place, and although there was a hard fight behind the wheel and with the engineers on the pit wall, Malthe Jakobsen had to settle for tenth place together with Loïc Duval and Théo Pourchaire.
“It’s always disappointing to finish further down the field than where we started, but all things considered, I think we’ve had a really good end to the season. We’ve improved throughout the year and it’s been clear to see in our results. It’s been a great experience working with the whole team and now being able to look back on some really great results,” says Malthe Jakobsen.
With the FIA World Endurance Championship season over, only a few weeks remain before the Asian Le Mans Series starts its 2025/26 season at the Malaysian Sepang circuit on 13-14 December. The goal is to regain the championship title that the popular Thybo driver has secured for the past two seasons.
