Kevin Magnussen will join Puegeot’s new Hypercar programme for the World Endurance Championship for 2022 and onwards. Kevin Magnussen will join the World Endurance Championship for 2022, as he has been signed as part of a seven driver panel to make up Peugeot’s roster.
Peugeot are set to join the Hypercar class for a Le Mans challenge in 2022, and have already outlined details of their new powertrain.
With work progressing at full pace ahead of their entry next season, Peugeot have now revealed their driver line-up. Seven drivers have been signed, with six racing and a reserve/simulator driver appointed. All seven will work throughout 2021 to help with development of the LMH car and work with Peugeot on the developing programme.
Kevin Magnussen, along with his new duties as a driver in IMSA with Chip Ganassi Racing, has joined the programme. The Danish driver is named alongside Formula E Champion Jean-Eric Vergne, former F1 & DTM racer Paul Di Resta, WEC & Le Mans winner Loic Duval, ELMS LMP3 Champion Mikkel Jensen and LMP2 WEC Champion and Le Mans winner Gustavo Menezes. British driver James Rossiter has been named as reserve.
Join the new FormulaSpy F1 Discord!
“The quality of the relationship between everybody involved in the project is fundamental,” said Jean-Marc Finot, Director, Stellantis Motorsport.
“Over and above their individual racing skills, the main criteria we took into account when assessing and talking with drivers were the ties they have with each other, their mind-set and their ability to work together to motivate and help take the team forward, because the human factor plays such a big part in endurance racing. We also wanted to establish that they saw their commitment with us as a priority and not just a line on their CV.”
The driver assessment process also took into account their respective records in FIA WEC, ELMS and IMSA rounds.
“We looked at all the endurance racing championships that have been organised over the past five years,” observes Olivier Jansonnie (WEC Technical Director, Peugeot Sport). “We didn’t just take individual results into consideration. We also examined the speed, consistency and reliability of a long list of drivers because we are looking for a line-up that meshes together well, with an eclectic mix of upcoming youngsters and experienced campaigners with proven development skills, especially in the field of hybrid power trains.”
Peugeot say they intend to hold their first test of the LMH car by the end of 2021.