2026 WEC Entry List Confirms 35-Car Grid, No Porsche Hypercar

The Automobile Club de l'Ouest and FIA World Endurance Championship organizers released the provisional full-season entry list for the 2026 campaign on Monday, confirming a 35-car grid that marks the complete absence of Porsche from the Hypercar class for the first time since the category's inception.

Porsche's withdrawal stems from the German manufacturer's decision in October to end its factory Hypercar program due to declining road car sales, followed by customer team Proton Competition's inability to secure funding for the minimum two-car requirement to qualify as a manufacturer entry. Despite a late effort involving Porsche Penske Motorsport to field privateer 963 prototypes, Proton announced last week that it would not continue, eliminating all three Porsche entries from the prior season. This reduces the Hypercar field to 17 cars from 20, though the net loss is mitigated by the debut of two GMR001 LMDh prototypes from Hyundai's Genesis Magma Racing team.

The 2026 Hypercar lineup features eight manufacturers: Ferrari, Toyota, Cadillac, Peugeot, BMW, Alpine, Aston Martin and the newcomer Genesis. Most teams return with continuity, including unchanged driver lineups for...