In the current era of sportscar racing, there’s no such thing as a slow news day, with so much resource being poured into so many major factory programmes at the top end in IMSA and the FIA WEC, and grids full across much of the GT3 landscape globally.
2024’s biggest story, according to DSC, was the Cadillac-Ganassi split, which sent ripples across IMSA and the WEC heading into year three for the LMDh ruleset. This time around, another split gets our vote, but before we dive into it, let’s reflect on some of the other major items that passed across the news desk over the past 12 months that came close to making the cut.
Over in IMSA, Robert Wickens, making his IMSA GTD debut with a Corvette featuring hand-controls, showcased not only his supreme talent behind the wheel, but also impressive progress in the tech behind it, developed by Bosch. And in GTP, the revelation that Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s partnership with BMW was coming to an end and WRT adding to its WEC effort, generated its fair share of reaction.
In Europe, Max Verstappen’s legend grew with his appearances on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in GT3 competition racing in the NLS. Here’s hoping it leads to many more sportscar appearances from the ultra-talented, world championship-winning Dutchman.
We also received final confirmation on the shape of LMP2 for the next generation, with Ligier and ORECA being selected as chassis makers, Gibson retaining the powertrain contract, and Goodyear pressing on as the tyre supplier. This has been a hugely important story strand for the area of motorsport DSC covers, and we expect there will be plenty more info to share on this as we get into the weeds of 2026.
As for the WEC, there was plenty of buzz throughout the year surrounding the new Hypercar programmes from Ford, Genesis and McLaren. Seeing Genesis’ GMR-001 on track for the first time was a treat, the McLaren’s fan-facing launch at Le Mans was impressive, and Ford Racing opting to build a team in-house for its 2027 Hypercar effort was a surprise.
Those moments were far from the only key news items from the year in Hypercar, though. Beyond the sea of driver market speculation and announcements, the bizarre news that Connor Zilisch missed out on a Cadillac test in Bahrain because he fell foul of NASCAR’s controversial playoff system in the Xfinity Series was a surprise. We also had a spike in interest late in the year for the forthcoming Pro/Am Hypercar category in the Asian Le Mans Series. It seems we could be in for some entertaining Hypercar battles during the winter over in Asia very soon!
But that wasn’t the biggest Hypercar news of the year, which in turn was undoubtedly the story of the year. Unfortunately, it wasn’t positive news…
Dailysportscar’s 2025 News Story of the Year
Porsche’s WEC Exit
Porsche and sports car racing have long gone together like peaches and cream. Since the German brand’s debut at Le Mans in 1951, it has climbed to the summit of endurance racing, and stayed there. It remains the brand with the most wins at La Sarthe, and with its 963 programme, the main aim is to achieve its 20th overall. But in 2025, a few months after a near-miss in June with a second-place finish, the news broke that, at least for the next year, that dream would not be realised.
On 7 October, following months of speculation, Porsche revealed that its WEC Hypercar effort was being shelved as part of a worldwide motorsport programme consolidation, which will see it scale back its factory presence to IMSA GTP and Formula E only.
By the time the story broke, it didn’t feel like a shock to those in and around the programme, but that didn’t make it any less emotional or significant. It was a decision that wasn’t taken lightly, brought on by a brutal combination of financial difficulties, frustration with the rulebook, and, in some areas, it seemed, poor communication internally.
This isn’t the space to re-litigate the situation, though; it’s been well documented elsewhere on these pages and beyond. Still, the saga dragged on and on beyond the final race of the season in Bahrain, as Proton Competition, Penske and a number of key players within Porsche pushed to salvage a two-car factory-supported effort.
Crucially, this would have allowed Roger Penske and his team to add a third car for Le Mans via its invitation earned in IMSA. But it wasn’t meant to be. Porsche Penske Motorsport’s effort will live on in North America.
For the time being, the prospects of a return in the short to medium term seem slim. We can only hope that Porsche isn’t a stranger to the WEC’s top class for too long…
