Autobayng News Team
Porsche will not return to the World Endurance Championship’s top class next year after just three seasons in the Hypercar division.
The team’s line-up of Andre Lotterer, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor shared victory in the drivers’ championship last season driving one of the 963 chassis entered by Penske.
Estre and Vanthoor will go to next month’s season finale at the Bahrain International Circuit with a slim chance of defending their title. They finished third in the last round at Fuji ahead of team mates Julien Andlauer and Mathieu Jaminet.
Porsche lies second in the constructors’ standings, where it also finished last year, when it trailed Ferrari by just two points. But despite their successful return to top-flight sportscar racing, Porsche has decided to cut back its programme.
Three 963s are competing in the WEC this year, two run by Penske and another by Proton Competition.
Although Porsche will not continue in WEC next year, they will return to the IMSA series with the 963. It will also continue to compete in Formula E.
“We use motorsport as a development platform for future technology and to illustrate the potential of our sports cars,” said Porsche Motorsport vice-president Thomas Laudenbach. “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.”
Despite the departure of Porsche, the WEC still retains a large roster of manufacturer competitors in its Hypercar class, including Ferrari, Aston Martin, Alpine, Cadillac, Toyota, BMW and Peugeot. Ford, McLaren and Hyundai have all announced future WEC programmes.
Porsche previously evaluated a move into Formula 1 with Red Bull for the 2026 season, when new power unit regulations will be introduced, but the two failed to agree a deal. Red Bull will instead produce its own hybrid engines with input from Ford.
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