Proton Unlikely to Continue Porsche 963 Hypercar Program

Photo: Fabrizio Boldoni/DPPI

Proton Competition is unlikely to continue its participation in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship without a significant injection of financial support and resources that would enable the customer team to run two Porsche 963s, according to team principal Christian Ried.

The German squad, which has campaigned the Multimatic-chassied LMDh car for the last two full seasons in the world championship following a mid-year debut in 2023, has not yet sorted its plans for the two cars it owns.

With Porsche withdrawing from factory Hypercar competition in the WEC, a minimum of two 963s would need to be entered in the championship, per WEC rules, which would also require Porsche to pay the €538,000 ($624,000 USD) entry fee.

Porsche Motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach previously told reporters that they would “discuss” paying the fee “if that’s what’s needed.”

“Of course we’re always happy to help our customers,” Laudenbach added. “Again, the decision on the factory program not to participate in WEC in 2026 does not change our strategy philosophy with customers.”

However, with no other 963 customer currently in line to join Proton in the class, it appears Proton would need to fulfill the WEC’s two-car requirement in order to race.

Adding to the complications is that one of its current Hypercar drivers, Nico Varrone, who brings backing from his native Argentina, will make the move to the FIA Formula 2 Championship next year.

“I don’t have the people, I don’t have the infrastructure,” Ried told Sportscar365. “You need a team, the guys to run it. It’s complicated. It’s not easy. I don’t know.

“We have the Fords [in WEC LMGT3], we have the ELMS, we have the Asian Le Mans program, so it’s all good. We’ll see.”

Ried said the team’s future in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship depends if it is able to patch together a 963 program for WEC, which he indicated appears unlikely at the moment.

The team had regularly campaigned its second 963 in the GTP class, but scaled back to a Michelin Endurance Cup-only effort this year, which was curtailed early after chassis damage from an accident in the Saheln’s Six Hours of The Glen.

“It depends,” said Ried on its IMSA plans. “At the end we first need to see what’s happening in WEC and then we make a final decision.

“Right now we have no plans [for IMSA].”

Should Porsche not find customers to run at least two 963s in the world championship, Porsche Penske Motorsport’s automatic invite for winning the IMSA GTP championship would not be valid due to the WEC rule that calls for each Hypercar manufacturer to have full-season entries.

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