Laudenbach: Porsche Not Ruling Out Return to WEC in Future

Photo: Porsche

Porsche is not ruling out a future factory return to the FIA World Endurance Championship according to motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach after revealing plans to withdraw at the end of the current season.

Announced on Tuesday, the German manufacturer will re-focus its factory activities exclusively on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, electing to discontinue the Porsche Penske Motorsport program in the WEC, in which it has competed since the launch of the LMDh platform in 2023.

In a Q&A provided to three media outlets, including Sportscar365, Laudenbach stressed that its factory exit from the WEC is not a final ‘goodbye’ to the globe-trotting sports car championship.

“Endurance racing undoubtedly holds special significance for the Porsche brand, and of course we wouldn’t rule out a return to WEC at some point in the future,” he said.

“We’ll now continue to do what we always do, which is to continuously monitor the sport and keep the lines of communication open with the rule makers.”

Porsche, and Laudenbach in particular, are known to have been key players in the push for a unified top-class platform that could debut as early as the 2030 WEC and WeatherTech Championship seasons that would merge LMDh and LMH into a single set of technical regulations.

With Porsche’s reduced factory effort for 2026, Laudenbach said he’s “fully aware” of the potential driver situation they could be faced with, given the upcoming arrivals of Genesis, McLaren and Ford to top class competition.

Sportscar365 understands at least three current factory Porsche LMDh drivers, including IMSA GTP points leaders Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet, could now have options to exit their contracts to pursue other manufacturers.

Jaminet has been linked with Genesis, which will debut in the WEC next year, with Campbell is believed to have held discussions with McLaren and Felipe Nasr having potentially been in talks with Ford.

It’s also believed that Michael Christensen, who missed the most recent WEC race at Fuji Speedway due to testing commitments with WeatherTech Championship customer team AO Racing, will likely not return to the consolidated Porsche Penske program in 2026.

“We are lucky enough to have some of the best sports car drivers in the world on our roster, and we are fully aware of the situation,” said Laudenbach.

“It’s too early at this stage to make any concrete statement, but discussions are of course underway.

“We plan to announce our 2026 lineup around the time of the Porsche Night of Champions in late November.

“At the same time, it is important to remain focused on the current season. We can still win both races and titles at both the final round of the WEC in Bahrain and the IMSA finale at Road Atlanta.”

Porsche has not outlined the length of its factory WeatherTech Championship program, other than stating it is confirmed for next year, in a continued partnership with Team Penske.

“Our participation in IMSA with the hybrid 963 remains a factory program, and we will also continue to be active in GT racing,” Laudenbach added. “Our trio of drive system types therefore also continues in motorsport.”

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