Théo Pourchaire Interview: Le Mans performance was ‘’worse than what we expected’’ - ‘’I’ve learned a lot from Loïc Duval’’
- Marios Gantzoudis
- 1 hour ago
- 6 min read
Peugeot’s Théo Pourchaire speaks to DIVEBOMB about this year’s ‘’tough’’ Le Mans experience, learning from Loïc Duval and more.
This year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans provided us with plenty of storylines to talk about. Toyota’s spectacular win, BMW and Cadillac’s near misses, Ferrari’s struggles and Genesis’ maiden appearance at the most prestigious of endurance races were some of the stories that made headlines.
Another one, though, was Peugeot, and not in a positive way. In the marque’s centenary of its first participation, all the way back in 1926, the French manufacturer struggled heavily, ending up in a disappointing 11th and 12th place.
Shortly before the next World Endurance Championship (WEC) round in Interlagos, Peugeot’s Théo Pourchaire, driver of the No.94 car, spoke to selected media, including DIVEBOMB, to discuss the race among other topics.
Le Mans struggles ‘’worse than expected’’
Entering the Le Mans 24 Hours weekend, Peugeot was already trying to manage expectations, after a strong showing at Spa-Francorchamps, which included a fantastic pole position lap from the No.94 car, in the hands of Dane, Malthe Jakobsen, before a potential top five finish evaporated due an unfortunate crash with an LMGT3 car.
Team principal Emmanuel Esnault had stated that ‘’The target is to have one car in Hyperpole 2’’, mentioning the fact Spa was a more favorable place than Circuit de la Sarthe for the 9X8’s characteristics.
When asked about it, Pourchaire said that ‘’expectations were maybe a bit too high unfortunately’’, before going on to assert that this was not necessarily a negative thing.
‘’I think it's always better to have high expectations than expectations that are too low and to be not optimistic’’, he continued.
‘’I don't know exactly what went wrong. I think the Le Mans track does not suit our car very well. So unfortunately, the performance was a lot worse than what we expected. I think we expected it to be closer to, let's say, the mid-pack. But yeah, it was tough.
‘’I'm more focused on the driving side and extracting the best out of myself and out of the car, which is, I think, what I did during Le Mans. But of course, I'm disappointed like everybody in the team, that we were not capable of doing better.’’
Then the 22-year old delved deeper on what held Peugeot back on home soil from his driving point of view.
‘’I think it was clear during the race that we were struggling a lot with the pace. For sure our weakest points were exiting the corners, like on the Porsche Curves for example, [we had] difficulty going back on power, traction was tough and you know in Le Mans, almost after every corner you have a very long straight, so you lose time for very long, and it can cost quite a lot.
Théo then went on to state that everyone at Peugeot understands ‘’there are a lot of things to improve on the car’’ and they are working non-stop to make the best out of the package.
‘’Hopefully we'll be better in Sao Paulo next week and also in the coming races, at Austin, at Fuji, and the last two rounds’’, Théo added, before praising the team effort despite the ‘’disappointing Le Mans in terms of performance.
‘’In terms of work done by the team, [there were] no issues on the cars, very good pit stops, no issues from the drivers, there are still some positive points, and I'm proud of that because nobody gave up, and that's something really important.
‘’Especially when the performance is bad, like that, you know you have to find motivation, and you have to keep everybody motivated through the race, and I'm happy nobody gave up. So we did our best, I think. Of course we finished P11 and P12 so it's not what we want, but we'll come back stronger.’’
When quizzed about the biggest lesson Peugeot learned from that weekend, Théo emphasized: ‘’I think to not do the same again. It's very important for everybody right now, to really improve and step up and everybody knows it.
‘’We knew it was going to be a tough one this year, but like I said, we never gave up, and we kept pushing until the last lap of the race, with the car we had, with the performance we had, with all the things that happened in the race, but we will work hard. We have a year in front of us to be better, and to come back a lot stronger for 2027 and for Le Mans.’’
Learning from Loïc Duval
This was Pourchaire’s second ever Le Mans start and first in a Hypercar, having first raced there in 2025 as part of Algarve Pro Racing’s LMP2 effort, finishing 25th overall and eighth in class.
The 2023 Formula 2 champion faced a lot of hardship in the time between his triumph and becoming a factory Peugeot driver, making his WEC debut in the Bahrain season finale of 2025 and finishing 10th, alongside Malthe Jakobsen and Loïc Duval.
The three of them have remained teammates for what is the Frenchman’s rookie season. Asked to elaborate on the latter’s presence within the team and what lessons has he taken from Duval, a veteran with both a WEC title and a Le Mans win under his belt, Pourchaire acknowledged the compatriot’s impact.
‘’I have learned a lot with Loïc. On the car setup, on how to talk to the engineers during the debriefs after the sessions and just the feeling he has in the car, to know what's wrong exactly, what to improve, and to not go in the wrong direction. So I learned a lot on that side. I became a bit better, especially during Le Mans.
‘’I was a bit more relaxed and a bit more confident talking to the engineers, giving them my opinion, and to be really strict with that, and to be fully sure that that was the most important. That was, for example, improving the front axle of the car was after FP1 the topic to do, or, you know, I'm just taking examples like that. But yeah, he's helped me a lot.’’
The new wave of young endurance drivers
Pourchaire is part of a new wave of drivers that have chosen endurance racing and specifically WEC to further develop their careers, when potential Formula 1 opportunities did not materialize.
In recent years, perspective of the series has gradually shifted, with WEC not being seen as a retirement home for ex-F1 drivers who cannot remain on the grid, but instead as a viable career path for young drivers.
Responding to a question about whether he believes that he represents part of the reason for that shift, Théo agreed with the notion, stating that he and other drivers are the ‘’beginning of this change’’.
He went on to mention his teammate, Malthe Jakobsen as yet another example, with the 22-year old Dane, switching to endurance racing all the way back in 2020, after winning the Danish Formula 4 title, subsequently finding success both in LMP3 and LMP2 machinery.
‘’I'm thinking about one of my teammates as well, Malthe Jakobsen, who is really young, he's my age, and he's really good at endurance racing.
“I think the level is going to step up quite a lot, it's already really high now, but the more and more drivers you have coming from Formula 2, coming from other series, and young drivers also coming from Formula One reserve driver seats, and driving in WEC, I think the level is stepping up, and also the teams are becoming better thanks to that.’’
How does Théo view Silverstone’s return to WEC?
Recently, as the 2027 WEC calendar was published, a track familiar to drivers that have raced in the F1 feeder series’ ladder, Silverstone, made its comeback to the top of endurance racing, having fallen out of the calendar after 2019.
As someone who has experienced the track both in single-seaters and in endurance, Pourchaire was invited to comment on Silverstone’s return.
‘’Silverstone is a track, first of all, that I really like. I really enjoy this track for me, especially because I drove there a lot in Formula 3 [and] Formula 2’’.
‘’In a single-seater, it's one of the best tracks on the planet, thanks to the rhythm and all the high-speed corners. But I think it's going to be tough in a Hypercar, because the traffic management will be key. You can lose a lot of time in the high-speed corners by just, you know, slowing down behind a GT’’.
‘’But it can be beautiful as well for the racing. It can rain, which is not often that we see races in the wet in the WEC. So yeah, it's good.’’
‘’Silverstone is a very popular place. And during the ELMS last year, there were a lot of spectators, which is important as well for the sport to become more popular and it's a great place to go’’, Théo concluded.
With five rounds still remaining in the 2026 season, Peugeot have little time to dwell on the disappointment of Le Mans. Interlagos presents the team's next opportunity to reset, while Pourchaire continues to establish himself as one of endurance racing's emerging young talents.
Whether Peugeot can turn that ambition into results remains to be seen. What is already clear, however, is that neither the team nor its youngest factory driver views Le Mans 2026 as a defining moment, but rather as another milestone in a longer development process — one they hope will ultimately culminate in a stronger 2027 season, one in which an updated 9X8 is anticipated.
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