The bigger problems exposed by Porsche's WEC exit

How many manufacturers does a major international racing series need? Two, four, six, more? Two is the minimum most would agree, four is pretty damn good and six is, historically speaking, an embarrassment of riches. Well, the World Endurance Championship will have eight next year. That’s still eight because although Genesis is joining, Porsche is ending its factory involvement in the Hypercar class.

In terms of the pure numbers there should be no concern for the WEC, but the significance of the German marque’s departure shouldn’t be underestimated. Porsche is, after all, the sportscar racing brand. For all the cachet that Ferrari brings to the WEC, Porsche has the real history: the record 19 overall wins at the Le Mans 24 Hours, so many iconic cars and multiple championship successes.

That’s why Porsche’s decision not to race in the WEC with the factory Penske team next year is a blow in the way that Lamborghini’s departure for 2025 wasn’t. Nor should we forget that the series is losing one of its frontrunners: Porsche won the drivers’ title last year and might just be able to pull off a repeat at the November finale in Bahrain.

But the worry is not just that the WEC has lost one of its most storied and successful manufacturers, and that the factory Porsche 963 LMDhs will only be racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s GTP division next year. There has to be concern about the reasons behind the fall of the axe.

The reasons for its withdrawal hasn’t actually been explained to the world yet. Porsche merely cited “current circumstances” when it announced its decision early this week. The world knows that Porsche as a company isn’t in the best of health, isn’t selling the volume of cars that it was a year ago. It has long since announced that there are cutbacks in the workforce on the way.

Motorsport has never been a frivolity for Porsche: it is central to the marque’s psyche even in an era when half its sales are SUV behemoths. If money has to be saved, motorsport is an obvious target, but sometimes it is more about perceptions. Racing somehow looks like a whimsical activity when men and women are facing the prospect of losing their jobs.

Losing Porsche from WEC's Hypercar ranks is a blow, but the top-level category will continue to thrive

Photo by: Andreas Beil

Think back to when Peugeot axed its WEC programme ahead of the relaunch year of the series in 2012. It signed off the campaign with a hybrid version of its 908 LMP1 turbodiesel in the face of factory closures, only for the board to be recalled to reconsider. Was spending a potential nine-figure sum on going racing the right thing to do? Or the right thing to be seen to be doing? The French car maker’s decision was probably born of the latter.

Motorsport can’t legislate for the ups and downs of the global automotive business. But it can put its own house in order. As much as we are in a golden age of sportscar racing, everything isn’t rosy. Porsche alluded to that last month when it refused to confirm if either 963 programme had sporting and financial considerations at play.

Manufacturers aren’t allowed to mention the Balance of Performance, but Porsche Motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach made a veiled reference to it in Austin. “I think there are things we can improve in the series,” he said, before going on to reference the second place for Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell in the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry at Le Mans in June.

What part the WEC’s travails with the BoP played in Porsche’s decision will only come out in the fullness of time. But they made the WEC a sitting duck when it came to saving money or being seen to do so

He pointed out that the car had what he called “a perfect race” - its only delay of sorts was a slow puncture - yet wasn’t truly in the frame despite finishing just 14s down on the winning AF Corse Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar. “Frankly speaking, the #6 should have won the race. Dot,” he suggested.

He’s right because the BoP is meant to level things up between the cars so that the race is won by the performance of the drivers, the strategy of the team and the car’s reliability. That’s a stated aim of the WEC organisers, the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest. On all those points, #6 was ahead of the #83 Ferrari from where I was sitting.

I’d have to agree with Laudenbach that the BoP didn’t do its job at Le Mans, just as I think it really hasn’t been on the money at any other race this year. The series has taken a retrograde step on the BoP this year despite the continued tweaking of the system. By my count we’re on BoP 2025 version three right now, but one manufacturer big-wig in the paddock set me straight recently. We’re actually on version four, he insisted.

Laudenbach (left) has been one of a few team bosses hinting at BoP unhappiness

Photo by: Andreas Beil

What part the WEC’s travails with the BoP played in Porsche’s decision will only come out in the fullness of time. But they made the WEC a sitting duck when it came to saving money or being seen to do so - and choosing between the world championship and IMSA.

There were rumours earlier in the summer that it was the IMSA 963 programme facing the axe. Porsche’s statement on Tuesday announcing the WEC withdrawal referred to the importance of the North American market to the brand: it is its largest sales zone. But it is also where it has enjoyed the most success with the 963. Not only has it won titles, and is on course to retain the ones it claimed last year at the Petit Le Mans IMSA finale at Road Atlanta this weekend, but just as importantly it has won the big ones.

Twice it has claimed the laurels at the Daytona 24 Hours and once at the Sebring 12 Hours. In sportscar racing victories in the most important long-distance events, or in the WEC’s case the important long-distance race, outstrip the importance to championship success. The question has to be whether Porsche believed it could register that elusive 20th win at Le Mans with an LMDh against the LMHs in light of the struggles with BoP. Given the significance of that race to both Porsche and Penske, a team that needs a Le Mans win to somehow complete an already impressive CV, the answer is surely a big fat no.

Fixing the problem of the BoP has to be priority number one for the WEC, and it can’t wait until 2030 when the LMDh and LMH rules are set to come together in some way. But it isn’t the only problem facing the WEC.

The ACO has always stressed the importance of privateers competing in the top class of Le Mans and beyond: it has been a series organiser for more than 20 years now, since the launch of what was originally called the Le Mans Endurance Series in 2004. Porsche, too, has made play of the need to have strong privateers in the championship. It is alone in making cars available to customers; I’m not counting the #83 Ferrari 499P LMH as a privateer, customer or independent entry. It’s a satellite factory entry in my mind.

Laudenbach has presciently pointed out that manufacturers don’t hang around forever with their factory programmes whether that be in WEC or IMSA. He urged other manufacturers to follow Porsche’s lead in selling LMDhs or LMHs to cover a time when our golden age isn’t shining quite so brightly.

But would there be any demand? Right now, if we discount the yellow Ferrari, the Proton Competition 963s running in WEC and IMSA and the JDC-Miller MotorSports car in IMSA are the only privateers in either Hypercar or GTP. That’s not how it was meant to be.

The Proton Porsche remains the only out-and-out customer team in the WEC's top ranks

Photo by: Eric Le Galliot

Both LMDh and LMH are non-development formulae in which the cars race in homologated form. Privateers should have absolutely equal equipment to the factories. Both sets of rules were meant to lower the costs of competing at the sharp end of international sportscar racing, both in terms of car development and running the things. LMDh, with the cars based on an off-the-shelf chassis spine, was meant to be the more cost-effective of the two.

Multiple LMDh manufacturers have admitted that it hasn’t turned out to be quite as cheap as expected. That’s perhaps not surprising given how competitive the WEC has become. The amount major car makers spend going racing isn’t only linked to the rules - the value of what’s on offer is just as important. The bigger the prizes, the more they will spend trying to win them.

Entering the WEC must be a daunting prospect for a privateer right now, even with an LMDh. Many of the operational costs don’t change with what has always been regarded as the cheaper option: the freight costs the same, fuel and tyres cost the same, and there’s no discount.

We’ll have to come to terms with the idea of there being no factory 963s racing full time in the WEC in 2026. It’s a blow to the series

Could we expect a stronger Porsche privateer presence in the WEC next year? I think so. Perhaps some kind of bolstered and expanded Proton programme involving the loan of a factory driver or two. It’s happened before: when Porsche took a year out from the WEC while it was developing the mid-engined 911 RSR in 2016, Proton flew the flag with a factory-supported entry in GTE Pro. Then, perhaps Penske could piggyback on its entries should it retain its IMSA titles and gain an automatic entry to Le Mans. That’s if it wants to go to a race in which it has fielded three cars each year since the start of the 963 race programme in 2023 and return in 2026 with just the one.

But we’ll have to come to terms with the idea of there being no factory 963s racing full time in the WEC in 2026. It’s a blow to the series, but also a warning.

Will Penske look to join forces with the customer Proton Porsche at Le Mans?

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz