Porsche AG has revealed that its factory-backed Porsche Penske Motorsport squad will end its involvement in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the end of the current season, citing a “comprehensive realignment” of its racing programs. Porsche won last year’s WEC Drivers’ Championship, but failed to add to its record 19 overall victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans since it returned to the top class with the 963 LMDh car in 2023.
Porsche will continue with its 963 Hypercar in the North American IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as running its 99X Electric in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. But declining EV sales, falling demand in China, and the impact of US tariffs, which have all impacted revenues, are understood to have contributed to this change of strategy.
Explaining its decision, Dr Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Development at Porsche AG, said: “We very much regret that, due to the current circumstances, we will not be continuing our involvement in the WEC after this season.”
Porsche won a recent WEC round, at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, and remains in contention to retain its Drivers’ Championship crown in the Bahrain finale. The decision to pull out of the global series will considerably decrease its chances of further top-class success at Le Mans, although customer team Proton Competition could continue to race its 963 in the WEC. Should PPM’s works team claim the 2025 IMSA GTP title later this month at Petit Le Mans, it would gain an automatic entry to Le Mans in 2026.
“We use motorsport as a development platform for future technology and to illustrate the potential of our sports cars,” says Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “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.”
The exit of Porsche is a blow to the WEC, but this is softened by factory teams from Genesis, McLaren and Ford poised to join its ranks in the coming years.
