Insight: The Fallout of Porsche's WEC Hypercar Exit
John Dagys delves into what could be in store for the German manufacturer in the WEC and at 24 Hours of Le Mans despite its factory Hypercar withdrawal...
We all heard the rumors and speculation in recent months. There was no denying that Porsche’s factory FIA World Endurance Championship and/or IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship programs were under threat, amid the manufacturer’s declining EV sales and other financial burdens over the last year that was set to result in budget cuts across its motorsport departments, particularly with works-run operations.
Tuesday’s confirmation at the German brand would pull the plug on the Porsche Penske Motorsport Hypercar program in the WEC didn’t necessarily come as a complete shock, but rather a serious wake-up call on multiple fronts.
Porsche, arguably one of the key pillars and the earliest supporter of IMSA and the ACO’s LMDh platform, is the first official withdrawal from the new ‘Golden Age’ of top-class prototype racing, at least in the WEC. Sure, Lamborghini pulled its SC63 program, run in conjunction with Iron Lynx, from the world championship after one season, with the future of its Ligier-chassied prototype left in limbo following this weekend’s Motul Petit Le Mans. But Porsche being the first full-factory LMDh manufacturer to leave the WEC was certainly not on anyone’s bingo card.
You could argue there were a number of factors at play. The aforementioned financial crisis within the company is undoubtedly the driving factor, although not the complete story. Porsche Motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach was quoted at Circuit of The Americas last month in saying that the ultimate decision on whether to stay in WEC could end up being sporting related. Laudenbach has made no secret that he personally enjoys IMSA-style racing over what has developed in recent years in the WEC, particularly with its unstable Balance of Performance process, which he would not comment on directly.
In fact, nobody within Porsche Penske or the Weissach marque would admit it, because of fears of being fined by the organizers due to a line in the WEC sporting regulations that prohibits competitors from discussing BoP.
While last month’s 6 Hours of Fuji, where the No. 6 Porsche 963 of Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre kept their chances of back-to-back Hypercar drivers’ world championships alive with a third-place finish, arguably produced one of the best races of the modern Hypercar era, it’s been the outlier for what’s been a challenging season in terms of achieving parity between manufacturers in the top class.