Team Peugeot TotalEnergies, Cadillac Racing, and Alpine Endurance Team lost any chance to be in contention for a podium seat following the chaotic start at Tamburello with #11 hitting Matthieu Vaxiviere in Alpine #36 who then made a strike with Paul di Resta's #94 Peugeot and Marco Wittmann’s #15 BMW, forcing Charles Milesi in the #35 Alpine to avoid the spinning cars by going through the gravel. The Peugeot #94 eventually also touched the back of the Cadillac #2. Alpine Endurance Team #35 with Charles Milesi and #36 with Matthieu Vaxiviere, the #15 BMW M Team WRT Hypercar with Marco Witmann and the #94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 Hypercar with Paul di Resta were severely delayed.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. At the back of the Hypercar pack, one see the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 and the #94 Peugeot 9X8 spinning as they were hit by Alpine A424 #36. Peugeot #93 managed to get through in the grass.

In their ranking order after checkered flag, we revive the race of Team Peugeot TotalEnergies, Cadillac Racing, and Alpine Endurance Team.

Team Peugeot TotalEnergies

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. Both Peugeot 9X8 2024 version during practices.

Having qualified in 14th and 15th places on the starting grid, the PEUGEOT 9X8 2024 began the race right in the middle of a 37-strong field at the narrow Imola circuit. Whilst Nico Müller (#93) managed to find a way through the Hypercars, Paul di Resta (#94) was hit from behind and sent into the gravel trap on the opening corner.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. #94 Peugeot 9X8 involved in chaotic start at Tamburello.

Indeed, the #94 PEUGEOT 9X8 was short on luck throughout the race, with a collision on the first corner that caused extensive damage and then a puncture just after the half-way stage. Despite their misfortune, Paul di Resta, Loïc Duval and Stoffel Vandoorne refused to give up and managed to fight back to finish 15th overall. “It was tough today. I began my stint at the worst possible time, on slicks in the rain. It was a bit crazy with cars sliding off into the gravel everywhere,” commented Stoffel at the finish. “Getting the slicks up to temperature was quite tricky. We had nothing left to play for, so we tried different things to collect data for the future.”

Loïc Duval (#94 PEUGEOT 9X8): “We had an accident on the opening lap and that inevitably impacted the rest of the race. I completed a double stint. The first stint went well despite there being a lot of blue flags. My pace was good. During my second stint, I had trouble overtaking. I locked up under braking at one point and got a flat spot on the front left tyre, which then punctured. It was a very complicated race for us. There are positives from the weekend in terms of the balance of the car and our consistency on the stints.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. #93 PEUGEOT 9X8 securing Team Peugeot TotalEnergies’ first points this season

Meanwhile, the #93 car moved up the standings thanks to the highly consistent double stints completed by Nico Müller, Mikkel Jensen and Jean-Eric Vergne. In the rain, “JEV” won his head-to-head battle with the no.2 Cadillac and then overtook the no. 38 Porsche to claim ninth place. “The start of my stint on the wet track was very tricky. I thought I was going to lose the car at several points on the straight! My pace improved afterwards and I looked after my wet weather tyres well on the drying track. The team brought me into the pits at the right time to put on the slicks” claims the Frenchman.

The #93 PEUGEOT 9X8 2024 finished the race in ninth place, securing Team Peugeot TotalEnergies’ first points this season. Although it was not fully reflected in the standings, the 2024 version showed real progress in Italy. Finishing in the points was just reward for all the efforts made by the team on development of the car and throughout the weekend at the iconic Imola racetrack.

Nico Müller (#93 PEUGEOT 9X8): “At the start, some drivers in the main field really took too many risks. But luckily, I was able to keep out of trouble. I then had to perform a reset on the car and that meant we lost a lot of time. My pace was good. Our goal was to finish in the points and that’s what we managed to do. The weather was difficult to manage but the team stayed focused and we made the right call on tyre strategy.” Source: Peugeot Sport

Cadillac Racing.

The #2 Cadillac V-Series.R scored its first Hypercar point of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. The Cadillac V-Series.R got hit from behind that caused some damage and a right-rear puncture.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. The Cadillac V-Series.R endured a damaged rear wing sustained at Tamburello…

A day after the sister #01 Cadillac V-Series.R and #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R finished 1-2 in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sprint race on the streets of Long Beach, California, Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber combined to advance two positions from their qualifying spot to place 10th in the 6 Hours of Imola..

Lynn, who qualified seventh in the season-opening race last month at Qatar and was behind the wheel in the 12-minute qualifying at Imola, started the race and endured a damaged rear wing sustained at the green flag and a right-rear tire puncture from debris on his second stint that forced an unplanned pit stop.

With 3 hours, 23 minutes left, Lynn handed off to Bamber, who regained positions and was running 12th when the course was declared wet and the Safety Car on track for an incident. After pitting for Michelin wet tires with 2 hours, 4 minutes left, Bamber proceeded to gain three spots with on-track moves over the next 45 minutes.

Bamber would run on one set of wet tires for a total of 1 hours, 26 minutes until pitting for energy and used slick tires with 38 minutes remaining as the track dried and battles for position heated up.

Alex Lynn: “The start of the race first corner was quite busy and we unfortunately got hit from behind that caused some damage. Other than that, the pace seemed really strong. We also got a right-rear puncture, which was a shame. But I think today was by far our best day race-wise, so pleased with how we turned our weekend around a bit. Looking forward to Spa.”

Earl Bamber: "We had good pace and to get one point is a start to the championship after Qatar. The car was fantastic on the wet, and we made the most out of it. It’s always a gamble when you switch from wets to slicks when the forecast is uncertain and only sectors of the track are wet, so all the teams were challenged on what strategy to use. Thanks to the crew and everyone for their efforts. On to Spa.” Source: Cadillac Racing

Alpine Endurance Team

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. Both Alpine A424 during formations laps.

Charles Milesi and Matthieu Vaxiviere were behind the wheel of their respective Alpine A424s for the start of the 6 Hours of Imola. After the two formation laps, Matthieu Vaxiviere put in a good start, gaining several places heading to turn one, but got caught up in a chain reaction accident with the #11 Isotta Fraschini, the #94 Peugeot and the #15 BMW. Behind them, Charles Milesi had to negotiate the gravel trap at the first chicane to avoid them, and return to the track in LMGT3 traffic.

During the safety car period, the remarkable efficiency of the mechanics saw them change the front and rear ends and a track rod in less than five minutes on the #36 car. Matthieu Vaxiviere rejoined the race three laps behind the leaders. Meanwhile, Charles Milesi made quick work of the LMGT3s to catch up with the Hypercars after the restart before reporting a power steering alert, which was quickly fixed during his first pit stop.

Fourteenth after this animated start to the race, Charles Milesi handed over to Paul-Loup Chatin. In eighteenth place, Matthieu Vaxiviere handed the reins to Mick Schumacher. Using different tyre strategies, they racked up the laps to gather crucial information on the tyre degradation before switching to wet tyres as soon as it began to rain with two hours to go.

The German and the Frenchman - who had one minor excursion - applied themselves diligently in the face of an ever-increasing number of challenges before being relayed by Nicolas Lapierre and Jules Gounon, respectively, in the final hour. Jules Gounon drove an intelligent and clean stint on slicks on a drying track to secure 13th place for his crew on his prototype debut. Behind him, Nicolas Lapierre consolidated the work of his teammates in the sister car before an aquaplaning moment dropped him to 16th place after a duel with the #94 Peugeot.

Jules Gounon: "It was a complicated week for the team. The programme is still young, and it was my first race weekend in the car, as a replacement for Ferdinand. My target was to avoid mistakes and I am pleased to have done so, although I still have much to learn about the prototype. It was a full-scale test, but the team collected a lot of information to bounce back at Spa and the following races.”

Matthieu Vaxiviere: "It's always complicated when a six-hour race starts like this. I had prepared well for the start; my tyres were up to temperature, and I don't think I took any unnecessary risks. Everything happened so quickly. I felt I was hit from behind, which sent me into the Peugeot and BMW. I returned the car to the pits, where the mechanics did an excellent job to get us back out there as quickly as possible. We had good pace, but we lacked a bit compared to the others, so we must keep working and analysing to improve on the whole race." Source: Alpine Endurance Team

WEC-Imola: chaotic start impacted 3 teams

Team Peugeot TotalEnergies

Cadillac Racing.

Alpine Endurance Team

BMW V8 Hybrid strong performance but no podium yet

WEC-Imola: BoP not yet matching LMDh with LMH