The World Endurance Championship has launched a 35-car entry listing for the 2026 season, confirming that Porsche could have no presence within the Hypercar class.
The German producer won’t battle for outright glory within the 2026 WEC following the withdrawal of its Porsche Penske Motorsport manufacturing facility group and its buyer squad Proton Competitors.
Porsche’s future within the class had regarded unsure since October, when it introduced the closure of its works programme in Hypercar amid declining street automobile gross sales.
Proton made it clear eventually month’s Bahrain WEC finale that it lacked the funding to develop its operations to 2 automobiles with a view to meet the championship’s eligibility standards for producers.
Though a late push was made to maintain the Porsche 963 on the grid in privateer arms, with Penske reportedly concerned, Proton confirmed final week that it’s going to not proceed its Hypercar programme into 2026.
Porsche Penske Motorsport nonetheless holds an automated entry to the Le Mans 24 Hours as a reward for profitable the IMSA GTP title this 12 months, nevertheless it can not take up the invite except it maintains a presence throughout the total eight-round world championship.
The departure of each PPM and Proton means there might be 17 automobiles competing in Hypercar subsequent season, down from 18 this 12 months.
Porsche’s exit has been partially offset by the arrival of Hyundai’s luxurious arm Genesis, which can subject a pair of Oreca-based GMR-001 LMDh prototypes following an intensive testing programme over the 12 months.
Andre Lotterer, Pipo Derani and Mathys Jaubert will drive Genesis’ #17 entry, whereas Daniel Juncadella, Mathieu Jaminet and Paul-Loup Chatin will share the #19 automobile.
There are not any main adjustments elsewhere, with reigning champion Ferrari, Toyota, Aston Martin, Cadillac, Alpine and Peugeot all persevering with their presence in Hypercar subsequent 12 months. Amongst these, Toyota, BMW, Cadillac and Alpine are all introducing main upgrades to their LMH or LMDh prototypes subsequent season. In whole, eight manufacturers will vie for high honours within the WEC in 2026.
There might be only one entry within the FIA World Cup for Hypercar, a sub-category reserved for privateer or buyer groups. AF Corse’s satellite tv for pc #83 Ferrari 499P would be the solely non-factory entry within the high class following Proton’s exit. Works Ferrari driver Yifei Ye is the one driver listed within the third 499P, with former Components 1 driver Robert Kubica and Phil Hanson but to substantiate their plans for 2026.
2026 LMGT3 grid
Begin motion, LMGT3
Picture by: FIAWEC – DPPI
The LMGT3 class will proceed to draw 18 entries in 2026, cut up equally amongst 9 producers – Aston Martin, Ferrari, BMW, Corvette, McLaren, Mercedes, Ford, Lexus and Porsche.
Nonetheless, there might be a number of group adjustments in what is going to solely be the third season for the LMGT3 class following its introduction in 2024.
Firstly, the all-female Iron Dames will depart the LMGT3 class completely, as introduced final month, with the second of the Porsche 911 GT3 Rs now being run beneath the Manthey DK Engineering banner. Whereas the German squad is but to announce its full line-up – rules require groups to call only one driver at this stage – it has revealed that reigning DTM champion Ayhancan Guven will spearhead the entry beforehand fielded by Iron Dames.
Elsewhere, Garage59 will take over the working of McLaren’s LMGT3 programme, as United Autosports shifts focus to the event of the British producer’s LMDh programme for 2027.
One other change considerations Aston Martin, with Racing Spirit of Leman departing the LMGT3 class after only one season. The Coronary heart of Racing group will now run each Vantage GT3s beneath its personal identify.
The Racing Group Turkey moniker will return to sportscar racing because it revives its collaboration with TF Sport to take over the joint naming rights of the #34 Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
Lastly, the Lexus RC F GT3 will stay on the grid with ASP for one more season, with its successor – the Toyota GR GT3 that was revealed final week – now set to debut in 2027.
2026 WEC Hypercar entry listing
No.
Group
Automobile
Drivers
007
Aston Martin THOR Group
Aston Martin Valkyrie
Harry Tincknell
009
Aston Martin THOR Group
Aston Martin Valkyrie
Alex Riberas
7
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Toyota GR010 Hybrid
Mike Conway; Kamui Kobayashi; Nyck de Vries
8
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Toyota GR010 Hybrid
Sébastien Buemi; Brendon Hartley; Ryō Hirakawa
12
Cadillac Hertz Group JOTA
Cadillac V-Sequence.R
Alex Lynn; Will Stevens; Norman Nato
15
BMW M Group WRT
BMW M Hybrid V8
Kevin Magnussen; Raffaele Marciello; Dries Vanthoor
17
Genesis Magma Racing
Genesis GMR-001 Hypercar
André Lotterer; Pipo Derani; Mathys Jaubert
19
Genesis Magma Racing
Genesis GMR-001 Hypercar
Mathieu Jaminet; Paul-Loup Chatin; Daniel Juncadella
20
BMW M Group WRT
BMW M Hybrid V8
Robin Frijns; René Rast; Sheldon van der Linde
35
Alpine Endurance Group
Alpine A424
António Félix da Costa
36
Alpine Endurance Group
Alpine A424
Frédéric Makowiecki
38
Cadillac Hertz Group JOTA
Cadillac V-Sequence.R
Earl Bamber; Sébastien Bourdais; Jack Aitken
50
Ferrari AF Corse
Ferrari 499P
Antonio Fuoco; Miguel Molina; Nicklas Nielsen
51
Ferrari AF Corse
Ferrari 499P
Alessandro Pier Guidi; James Calado; Antonio Giovinazzi
83
AF Corse
Ferrari 499P
Yifei Ye
93
Peugeot TotalEnergies
Peugeot 9X8
Paul di Resta
94
Peugeot TotalEnergies
Peugeot 9X8
Loïc Duval
2025 WEC LMGT3 entry listing:
No.
Group
Automobile
Drivers
10
Storage 59
McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo
Antares Au; Thomas Fleming; Marvin Kirchhöfer
21
Vista AF Corse
Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo
François Hériaud; Simon Mann; Alessio Rovera
23
Coronary heart of Racing Group
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3
Grey Newell
27
Coronary heart of Racing Group
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3
Ian James
32
Group WRT
BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo
Darren Leung
33
TF Sport
Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R
Nicky Catsburg
34
Racing Group Turkey by TF
Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R
Charlie Eastwood
54
Vista AF Corse
Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo
Thomas Flohr; Francesco Castellacci; Davide Rigon
58
Storage 59
McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo
Alexander West; Finn Gehrsitz; Benjamin Goethe
61
Iron Lynx
Mercedes-AMG LMGT3
Martin Berry; Rui Andrade; Maxime Martin
69
Group WRT
BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo
Anthony McIntosh
77
Proton Competitors
Ford Mustang LMGT3
Ben Tuck
78
Akkodis ASP Group
Lexus RC F LMGT3
Esteban Masson
79
Iron Lynx
Mercedes-AMG LMGT3
Johannes Zelger; Matteo Cressoni; Lin Hodenious
87
Akkodis ASP Group
Lexus RC F LMGT3
José María López
88
Proton Competitors
Ford Mustang LMGT3
Giammarco Levorato
91
Manthey DK Engineering
Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3
Ayhancan Güven
92
The Bend Manthey
Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3
Richard Lietz
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