WATCH: Wingless Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar blasting through Monza

Peugeot's Le Mans challenger made its racing debut

Alpine may have claimed victory in the World Endurance Championship's 6 Hours of Monza, but everyone's eyes were focused on the other French manufacturer that just made its return to the temple of speed.

Many were skeptical of the wingless wonder called the Peugeot 9X8, as its radical aerodynamic configuration is a unique take compared to what established teams like Toyota, Glickenhaus and Alpine came up with.

But after its official debut at the 6 Hours of Monza, the 9X8 hypercar, doesn't look too far off from its rivals, and was only 1.8 seconds off the pole-position time set by the Glickenhaus 007 Hypercar.

However, like any other new race car, the Peugeot 9X8 wasn't exactly running smoothly in the 6-hour endurance race, as reliability issues gave the French manufacturer trouble. The #94 and #93 9X8 finished the race 25 and 27 laps down respectively from the race-winning #36 Alpine hypercar.

They may be having teething troubles but the good news is the 9X8's aero philosophy can be a competitive one when it comes to raw pace. And with that said, Peugeot has two more chances to sort out their reliability issues as they clock in more laps with the LMH prototype in the races at Fuji and Bahrain come September and November ahead of their full assault in the exciting 2023 season.