Peugeot announces its lineup in Endurance including Magnussen and Vergne
Endurance racing, through its world championship, is on the brink of a new era. Today, Peugeot announced its drivers for the 2022 campaign, and we notably find two former F1 drivers: Kevin Magnussen and Jean-Eric Vergne.
Freshly departed from F1 by his Team HAAS, the Danish driver had announced a future rich in competition.
A discovery of endurance at the 24 Hours of Daytona:
From 2008 to 2020, from his first Formula Ford to the latest HAAS F1, including McLaren F1 and Renault F1, Kevin Magnussen has only driven single-seaters.
This man from the cold is far from having a frosty demeanor. Strong in temperament and a real puncher, he announced in early December 2020 his participation in the 2021 American endurance championship; he will have to work with a teammate and especially share the wheel to aim for the final victory!
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship kicks off at the end of January with the 24 Hours of Daytona, and the Dane is immediately up to speed. Better yet, behind the wheel of his Cadillac DPI, he is on the verge of victory before a late-race puncture ends the hopes of Chip Ganassi Racing.
« It was a really great experience for me. I learned a lot and I want to have a successful season with Chip Ganassi Racing.
The Dane is over the moon and eager to arrive in Sebring for the second round, and the famous twelve hours.
A future at the highest level that will go through the Peugeot team:
A little over a week after his notable debut in a closed prototype, Kevin Magnussen is today officially announced as one of the seven drivers chosen by Peugeot to accompany the brand at the highest level of global endurance racing starting in 2022.
Among these seven drivers, we find three former F1 drivers, besides the Dane, Jean-Eric Vergne and Paul Di Resta have been announced.
A Frenchman in a French team for victory at Le Mans?
After his departure from Toro Rosso at the end of the 2014 season, Jean-Eric Vergne was able to bounce back in Formula E. He managed to win the world championship title twice in 2018 and 2019.
A new challenge awaits him. While the Frenchman is already familiar with endurance racing, having participated three times in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans, he has yet to compete for a factory team targeting an overall victory. Indeed, in 2017, 2018, and 2019, he took part in this famous race but in the LMP2 category, driving an Oreca 07.
To complete the crew, Peugeot has called on four other top endurance racers, Loic Duval, Gustavo Menezes, Mikkel Jensen, and James Rossiter. The latter will be the simulator driver. It remains to be seen how these drivers will be allocated.
Magnussen reserve driver at HAAS in 2021?
Busy schedule in 2021, indeed his former F1 boss, Günther Steiner, recently announced that he might episodically call upon his two former drivers if one of the two official drivers needed to be replaced. In these times of pandemic, the opportunity to drive an F1 car again for these neo-retirees of the sport is very real.
