Porsche Has Already “Sorted” 2027 Factory GTP Lineup

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Porsche has already “sorted” its factory GTP lineup for the 2027 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season according to the German manufacturer’s motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach, who hinted there will be some “familiar faces” within the Porsche Penske Motorsport camp.

The two-time and defending championship-winning squad is expected to feature at least one new driver to the roster, following the recent news that 2025 GTP champion Matt Campbell will depart for Ford’s new FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar effort.

It comes in addition to Laurens Vanthoor being loaned out to McLaren’s Hypercar program, while scaling back to an endurance-only role with Porsche Penske next year, with Laurin Heinrich already being promoted to a full season ride in one of the team’s two Porsche 963s.

Additionally, Kevin Estre has been linked to a possible full season Toyota ride in the WEC, possibly loaned out in a similar fashion to Vanthoor.

When asked about the status of its driving crews for next year, amid the already confirmed and rumored movements, Laudenbach said they’re already been confirmed internally.

“I think we’re OK with the lineup,” he told Sportscar365. “We’re sorted. Since we didn’t disclose the lineup for next year, I can’t comment on that.

“The only thing I can say is that we’re sorted.”

With Campbell set to depart at years’ end, Vanthoor set for his final year with Porsche in 2027 and Estre rumored to be potentially doing the same, it could mean that Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer would be the only returning full-season drivers, along with the promotion of Heinrich.

Laudenbach acknowledged that their drivers have been in high demand amid the arrival of new manufacturers, such as McLaren and Ford to top-class sports car racing.

“We have some of our drivers that have been with us for many, many years,” he said. “They all received offers, which I think on the one side is great, because it really shows we had an extremely good lineup.

“A lot of these guys coming out of our talent system. That makes us very proud.

“The second fact is that there are new cars, so they receive various offers. Some of them want to do Le Mans, which they can’t with us, and that’s for sure one of the reasons.

“We don’t have a problem. We are well sorted with the drivers, and I have to say everything we decided was always in a very good phase and always in conjunction with our drivers. I’m extremely relaxed about that point.

“Of course I would have liked to keep them. But that’s what it is.”

When asked if Porsche Penske could rely on Team Penske’s NTT IndyCar Series stars, such as Josef Newgarden, who was part of the team’s 2024 Rolex 24 at Daytona win, and/or Scott McLaughlin, both of whom tested the Porsche 963 as recently as last November’s IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway, Laudenbach said “we don’t need that.”

“They do race in IndyCar, so [GTP] would always be priority two and this is not in our favor,” he said. “There no necessity to do so.”

Laudenbach, meanwhile, reaffirmed that Porsche Penske will continue as a two-car GTP operation next year.

“The original decision to do five years of IMSA is still there,” he said. “Therefore, yes, expect us to be there next year.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John