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Peugeot Promotes Alex Quinn to Factory Hypercar Race Seat for 2027
After winning in LMP2 at Daytona and Le Mans, development driver Alex Quinn will step up to a full-time Peugeot 9X8 race seat in the FIA World Endurance Championship for 2027.
By Michael de Vries - 2026-10-14T16:53:00.000Z - 3 min read
Team Peugeot TotalEnergies has confirmed that Alex Quinn will step up to a full-time factory race seat for the 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign. The 26-year-old driver, who spent 2026 serving as the French outfit's test and development driver, has agreed a deal covering the forthcoming seasons. His promotion will place him behind the wheel of the evolved version of the Peugeot 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar, a car he has already helped develop over the past year.
The announcement formalises a promotion built on development feedback and an exceptional run of results in LMP2 competition. Team Principal Emmanuel Esnault explained that Quinn demonstrated great abilities whenever testing the 9X8 alongside the team. Esnault also noted that this marks the second time Peugeot has chosen to promote a young talent directly from the LMP2 ranks into an LMH race drive, underlining the manufacturer's willingness to reward proven endurance performance.
Quinn described the confirmation as a dream come true, having spent 2026 familiarising himself with the French machine. His development role required working closely alongside Peugeot's engineering and trackside personnel both at the factory and throughout testing programmes, providing feedback to guide the evolved 9X8. The driver expressed gratitude to team management for the opportunity, stating that he feels ready to make the step up following his recent competitive successes across other championships.
That preparation was reinforced by an outstanding sequence of major victories during the 2026 endurance season. Quinn opened his year by capturing the LMP2 class victory at the Daytona 24 Hours. Months later, he added a prestigious LMP2 Pro/Am class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. His campaign concluded in dramatic style at Petit Le Mans, where he claimed the IMSA SportsCar Championship LMP2 title with a decisive move on the final lap.
Those achievements followed a rapid rise through prototype racing after Quinn moved away from single-seaters. After earning Rookie of the Year honours in both the British F4 Championship and the Formula Renault Cup, he made the switch to endurance racing in 2024. Contesting dual campaigns in IMSA and the European Le Mans Series that season, he finished second in the ELMS LMP2 standings and took sixth in class on his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut.
That initial sports car success brought him to the attention of Peugeot, earning him an invitation to the official FIA WEC Rookie Test at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain in late 2025. That first test in the Peugeot 9X8 proved conclusive, leading the team to sign him as their test and development driver for 2026. A full season embedded with the outfit provided decisive proof of his feedback and capabilities at the wheel.
The step up to a full Hypercar race seat in 2027 moves Quinn into the premier class at a pivotal moment for Peugeot. The clear highlight of the 2027 calendar will be the 95th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans between 9 and 13 June, where Quinn will target outright victory rather than class honours. Having progressed steadily through karting, single-seaters and LMP2, he now prepares to take on a headline role in the evolved 9X8.