Peugeot: Revised Evo Joker Rules Make “Complete Sense”

Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI

Peugeot Sport technical director Olivier Jansonnie has described the provision for extra Hypercar Evo jokers in the draft 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship regulations as “positive for us” saying the changes laid out make “complete sense.”

Last month, it was revealed upon the publication of the 2026 Hypercar technical regulations that manufacturers would be permitted to apply for additional jokers beyond the five each are entitled to until the end of 2027 under the current regulations “based on performance deficiency only determined by [the] governing body.”

The rules state that additional jokers “can be granted for a demonstrated significant lack of performance as determined by [the] governing body.”

This revision has significant implications for Peugeot, which is known to have used all five of its jokers for its 9X8 and has been pushing to be permitted additional jokers prior to the end of 2027, or an entirely new car homologation.

Jansonnie described the changes as “positive” for Peugeot when speaking to reporters in Bahrain on Wednesday, even if the full extent of the changes that would be permitted under the revised regulations has not been fully determined.

“The discussion we are having now is opening the possibility for [further] evolutions,” said Jansonnie. “What is still not clear yet is the full content of the evolutions that are available. This is something we are discussing in more detail now.

“But it has gone in the right direction since Fuji, which is positive for us.

“If we have a BoP formula, it makes complete sense that the BoP is used to balance the cars up to the point where you need an evolution on your car, because the car cannot survive even with the maximum BoP, for instance.

“That’s what we are pushing for — that when you arrive in this kind of situation, which we have now, that you can do some evolutions on your car.”

Asked if this meant that Peugeot building a new car with the use of an additional homologation is now off the table, Jansonnie replied: “At the minute, they are talking about evolutions. The discussion is now on how much we can do.”

Further asked to clarify if this could drive Peugeot towards a repeat of its major 2024 update, which involved the use of multiple jokers but no fresh homologation, Jansonnie replied: “It could be. That’s the discussion.”

One element that was not specifically mentioned in the 2026 regulations, but is known to have been discussed among manufacturers, is the principle of not allowing the best-performing manufacturers to introduce jokers.

Jansonnie said he believes the principle of allowing the manufacturers that are struggling more should go hand in hand with the notion that the best performers should be barred from making changes that would extend their advantage.

“[The rule changes] open the door to something that for us makes complete sense, and from our perspective should be officialized, [which is] to not have evolutions for cars that don’t need it for balancing the field,” he stated.

“It’s very important to have this milestone, that when you are missing performance you are allowed to do something, and the opposite is also important – when you are not missing performance, you should not be allowed to do something.

“As the manufacturers we have different opinions about this, this is normal, and we’re moving in the right direction to get this common understanding of the situation.”

Source: Sports Car 365