Porsche has announced today that it will withdraw its factory team from the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship at the end of this season.
The German manufacturer, which partners with Team Penske to run its prototype sportscar operations, will continue in the IMSA Sportscar Championship in 2026.
Porsche has competed in WEC’s Hypercar class since 2023 with its 963 Hypercar, built to the LMDh ruleset. Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Andre Lotterer won the drivers’ championship in 2024, with the team narrowly missing out on the manufacturers’ title to Toyota at the final round in Bahrain last year.
This year, Estre and Vanthoor have an outside shot at a second consecutive title, once again at the final race in Bahrain next month. They sit third in the championship, on 94 points, 21 behind the leaders, Ferrari’s Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and James Calado.
Declining EV sales at Porsche
Porsche’s reason for pulling out of WEC is largely to do with the company’s road car sales. It’s committed heavily to electric vehicles, yet the sales for these cars are down, dropping the company’s revenue and forcing costs to be cut.
While Porsche will remain in IMSA competition, plus competing in Formula E, the WEC Hypercar programme is a victim of the corporate problems at the German auto manufacturer.
It’s not clear what will happen to Porsche’s customer team in Hypercar, Proton Competition. That team currently enters a single customer 963 in the class, but WEC rules say a minimum of two cars must be entered.
It’s also not clear whether Porsche will be able to race at Le Mans next year as a one off entry. The 963 has not yet won Le Mans, although it got close this year in the hands of Estre, Vanthoor, and teammate Matt Campbell, running a near-perfect race to finish second, but unable to beat the winning #83 Ferrari.
“We very much regret that, due to the current circumstances, we will not be continuing our involvement in the WEC after this season,” said Porsche board member Dr Michael Steiner.
Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport, added: “We use motorsport as a development platform for future technology and to illustrate the potential of our sports cars.
“With the Porsche 963 in the North American IMSA series and the Porsche 99X Electric in the Formula E World Championship, we want to continue to fight for overall victories in the future. That is our tradition and our focus.”
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