Reigning Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire has landed a test and development role with the Peugeot World Endurance Championship squad.
The Frenchman, who partially contested the 2024 IndyCar campaign with Arrow McLaren, has been signed by the French marque after driving one of its 9X8 2024 Le Mans Hypercars during the official WEC rookie test in Bahrain earlier this month.
He is taking over the role, which will also make him an unofficial reserve driver, from Malthe Jakobsen, who has been promoted to the race line-up for 2025 after the departure of Nico Muller to Porsche.
Pourchaire described the deal with Peugeot as “an incredible opportunity”.
“I see it as a fresh start, as endurance racing is a new challenge for me,” said the 21-year-old.
“Being a test driver is a fantastic opportunity, and I’m grateful to Team Peugeot TotalEnergies for offering me this chance - I can’t wait to begin this new role."
Peugeot Sport technical director Olivier Jansonnie explained that Pourchaire had “demonstrated great potential and an in-depth understanding of our car's unique features” throughout the rookie test, a day after the final round of the 2024 championship at the Bahrain International Circuit.
“Theo brings a fresh perspective thanks to his single-seater experience, which is a valuable asset for the development of our endurance programme,” said Jansonnie.
“We are eager to work with him and fully integrate him into our team."
Pourchaire stressed after the test that he intends to return to active competition next year after sitting out the second half of 2024 following his final IndyCar race in July.
It is likely he will dovetail his Peugeot duties with racing an LMP2 car in the European Le Mans Series in the same way as Jakobsen did with Cool Racing over his two seasons as what Peugeot described as a junior driver.
Pourchaire was spotted with the Algarve Pro Racing squad at the Goodyear tyre test at Paul Ricard earlier this month and is understood to be a candidate for a seat with the Anglo-Portuguese squad.
Peugeot is yet to reveal how Jakobsen will fit into its two-car WEC squad and whether he will slot into the seat in the #93 entry vacated by Muller.
Jansonnie explained in Bahrain that the final decision on the line-ups in each car is yet to be made.
It shuffled drivers between cars for 2024 when Stoffel Vandoorne moved up from the reserve role on the departure of Gustavo Menezes.
He took Menezes’s seat in #94, driving alongside Loic Duval and Paul di Resta, who swapped places with Muller between seasons.
