Reigning Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire will get his first run in a sportscar prototype when he joins Peugeot for the World Endurance Championship’s Bahrain rookie test next month.
Pourchaire is one of the two drivers to be selected by the French manufacturer to drive the 9X8 2024 LMH at the Bahrain International Circuit on 3 November, along with his former F2 rival Clement Novalak.
Pourchaire had previously revealed his ambition to race in the WEC, telling Autosport that he «watches almost every race» and that the Le Mans 24 Hours is an event that he «would like to do one day».
However, there will be no immediate opportunities available at Peugeot’s Hypercar squad, which has already locked in its line-up for 2025 after promoting Malthe Jakobsen to replace new Porsche factory driver Nico Muller.
«For Team Peugeot TotalEnergies, these Rookie Tests in Bahrain bring a fresh perspective, even though reconditioning the cars after the race requires a lot of work from the entire team,» said Peugeot technical director Olivier Jansonnie.
«It is always very motivating and rewarding to see young drivers arrive with wide eyes, discovering the team, the car, etc.»
«We selected two different profiles. Theo is single-seater-oriented with an already impressive track record and is recognised as one of the single-seater hopefuls.
«Clement has more endurance experience with notable results in ELMS, particularly a second place in LMP2 at the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans. His statistics in this discipline impressed us. I think it’s an interesting combination.
#93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Mikkel Jensen, Nico Muller, Jean-Eric Vergne
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
«They will be guided by Paul di Resta and Malthe Jakobsen, who also went through this process before being appointed full-time next season. It is always very interesting for us to get technical feedback from fresh perspectives.»
Pourchaire is still searching for a drive next year after admitting recently that he doesn’t have a «lot of money to put on the table».
The Frenchman started the season in the Super Formula series with Team Impul, but ended up splitting with the squad after just one round when an opportunity came to enter IndyCar with Arrow McLaren.
However, his relationship with Arrow McLaren in IndyCar also turned out to be short-lived, as the team replaced him with Indy NXT graduate Nolan Siegel at around the mid-way point of the year. Pourchaire returned to the outfit for a one-off appearance at Toronto in place of Alexander Rossi, but has been out of action since then.
Novalak, who previously raced against Pourchaire in F2, also left the category after 2023 in favour of a new career in sportscar racing.
Competing for InterEuropol Competition in an ORECA-Gibson 07, he finished on the podium in the recent European Le Mans Series event at Portimao. A maiden outing at Le Mans yielded a second-place finish in the LMP2 class.