From 2026 there will be no Porsche competing for the overall win in the Le Mans 24 Hour race.
Porsche Penske Motorsport has announced it will quit the World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the end of this season, but will continue racing its factory 963 Hypercar prototype in the US-based IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The WEC is a global series that includes the flagship Le Mans 24 Hours in France, a race that Porsche has won a record 19 times, most recently in 2017 with its 919 Hybrid.
The first Porsche overall win was in 1970 with the iconic 917 model. Porsche returned to Le Mans with the 919 Hybrid in 2014, marking its return to the top-tier Le Mans Prototype category after a 16-year absence. It won the race — and also the overall WEC title — from 2015-2017.
Thereafter it quit the top-tier class but returned to WEC in 2023 with a two-car Hypercar programme. Porsche’s new 963 car has been unable to reach the top step of Le Mans however, with Ferrari winning the last three editions.
Porsche lies second in this year’s WEC, behind Ferrari which has dominated the season by winning five out of six races held so far.
From next year the German brand has decided instead to focus on the IMSA series in North America, where it leads this year’s driver and manufacturer standings with the 963. The top-tier prototype cars raced in the WEC are the same as those competing in IMSA and some teams — including Porsche, BMW, Cadillac and Aston Martin — race in both series.
With its involvement in IMSA, which features the 24 Hours of Daytona as its highlight race, Porsche says it is underlining the importance of the North American market and endurance racing for the brand.
“We very much regret that, due to the current circumstances, we will not be continuing our involvement in the WEC after this season,” said Michael Steiner, member of the executive board for development at Porsche AG.
“Motorsport has always been of major importance for Porsche and is an essential part of the brand.”
The move comes amid lower profitability forecasts at Porsche, but the carmaker will also continue to race the 99X Electric car in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, in which it has competed since 2019.
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