A bombshell in the World Endurance Championship: Porsche is discontinuing its LMDh factory programme with the 963 at the end of the current WEC season.
The sports car manufacturer announced this as part of a realignment of its motorsport strategy. According to this, the Porsche Penske Motorsport team will no longer compete in the FIA WEC from 2026.
‘We very much regret that, due to the current circumstances, we will not be continuing our WEC involvement after this season,’ explained Dr Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development at Porsche AG.
Focus on IMSA and Formula E
According to the company, Porsche will focus on two pillars in factory motorsport in the future:
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
The commitment to the IMSA series with the Porsche 963 is to be continued. According to the press release, this orientation underlines the importance of endurance racing for the brand and the relevance of the North American market.
FIA Formula E World Championship
The second pillar of the 2026 motorsport strategy is participation in Formula E. There, the sports car manufacturer wants to strengthen its electric commitment with the Porsche 99X Electric as a central development field for high-performance electric drives. With the introduction of the fourth generation of Formula E vehicles (2026/27 season), Porsche hopes to achieve a steeper learning curve for its fully electric production vehicles.
Porsche Motorsport Director Thomas Laudenbach reaffirmed the company’s focus: ‘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 fighting for overall victories in the future. That is our tradition and our focus.’
Source: Porsche Newsroom