Peugeot Ends Four-Year WEC Pole Drought at Spa

Malthe Jakobsen ended Peugeot's four-year wait for a World Endurance Championship pole position, putting the #94 9X8 on top for the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The Dane – sharing the car with Loic Duval and Theo Pourchaire – edged the #12 Jota Cadillac by just 0.043 seconds in a tightly packed Hypercar session.

Why it matters:

Peugeot's first pole since 2022 is a genuine sign of progress for the French marque, which has struggled for outright one-lap pace since returning to the top class. With the top three covered by less than a tenth, the Hypercar field is converging – and the 2026 season looks set to be the most competitive yet.

The details:

• Hypercar top three: 1st Peugeot #94 (Jakobsen/Duval/Pourchaire), 2nd Jota Cadillac #12 (Stevens/Deletraz/Nato) +0.043s, 3rd Alpine #35 (Felix da Costa/Milesi/Habsburg) +0.078s.
• Toyota struggles: The #7 Conway/Kobayashi/de Vries entry could only manage 12th, while the #8 Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa car was 16th – a rare off-day for the reigning champions.
• LMGT3 class: Hadrien David put the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus on pole by a comfortable two-tenths over the Heart of Racing Aston Martin of Robichon. The #77 Proton Competition Mustang rounded out the top three.
• Full results: See the tables above for the complete Hypercar and LMGT3 grid.

What's next:

The Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps gets underway tomorrow. With such close margins, the race is wide open. Peugeot will aim to convert its first pole into a first win for the 9X8, while Toyota and Cadillac will be eager to strike back.