Jakobsen Delivers Peugeot's Maiden Wec Pole at Spa
Malthe Jakobsen gave Peugeot its maiden WEC pole position at Spa-Francorchamps on 8 May, taking the top spot in Hyperpole after a turbulent qualifying run in the #94 Team Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 Hypercar. The 22-year-old recovered from a high-speed spin at Raidillon to deliver the lap that mattered.
The margin was tiny. Will Stevens was second in Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA's #12 entry, 0.043 seconds behind Jakobsen, and less than eight-hundredths of a second covered the top three in qualifying. For Peugeot, the result ends a 15-year wait for a pole in any international endurance racing series and reaches back to its last world championship pole in 1992.
Jakobsen Rebounds At Raidillon
Jakobsen's session nearly went the wrong way at the top of Raidillon on his out lap from the pits in Hypercar qualifying. He spun at high speed, then went back to the box for fresh tyres before returning to post the second-quickest qualifying effort and later topping Hyperpole.
His own account captured how close the moment came to ending the run before it started: “It definitely wasn’t the ideal start to the session!” he said. “A bump caught me out and unfortunately I had a spin; luckily, I didn’t hit anything, but at times like that, your heart stops for a moment and then I immediately felt some vibrations.”
Peugeot 9X8 Leads Front
Jakobsen's pole came in the #94 Peugeot shared with Théo Pourchaire and Loïc Duval. The result gives the team its first pole in the FIA World Endurance Championship and its first in world championship competition since 1992, a sharp turn after years without a qualifying breakthrough at this level.
He said the recovery between the two sessions made the difference: “We decided to box for new tyres, and luckily, we still had time to do two ‘build’ laps and a proper ‘push’ lap, then the break between qualifying and Hyperpole was good to take a deep breath and get the focus back.”
Ferrari And Toyota Lose Ground
Behind Peugeot and Cadillac, Charles Milesi and Jules Gounon locked out the second row for Alpine Endurance Team. Jack Aitken qualified fifth on his series debut in Cadillac's V-Series.R, while Antonio Fuoco ended up eighth in the #50 Ferrari 499P.
The bigger losses came for Ferrari and Toyota. Robert Kubica missed Hyperpole and qualified 13th in the #83 Ferrari, Antonio Giovinazzi was 15th in the #51 Ferrari, Kamui Kobayashi placed 12th in the #7 Toyota TR010 Hybrid, and Brendon Hartley was 16th in the #8 Toyota, 1.5 seconds off the pace. In a field where 0.664 seconds covered the entire top ten, the difference between front-row contention and traffic became razor thin.
Jakobsen's late surge leaves Peugeot at the front for the six-hour contest at Spa on the 7.004km circuit, with the momentum now on the #94 car after a qualifying session that asked for precision and punished anything less.
