Hypercar News Notebook: Toyota
Toyota has now teased and will shortly test a revised aero package for its now five-season-old GR010 Hybrid, ahead of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship.
Toyota, meanwhile, is understood by DSC to be amongst the vast majority of current manufacturers to endorse the continuation of BoP in the World Championship at a recent meeting with rule-makers.
Ford
Ford’s now public decision to race its forthcoming 2027 Hypercar programme in the FIA WEC with an in-house team surprised many in the WEC paddock and beyond.
DSC understands that three potential service providers were believed to be in the running until just days before the decision was made public, and all three were contacted before the announcement.
Chip Ganassi Racing, Penske Racing, Mitas Racing (Stephen Mitas’s squad provided the core of the Ganassi WEC Cadillac programme), and current multi-series Mustang GT3 operators HRT are all understood to have been among those in serious contact with Ford about the programme at various points. DSC believes that the current WEC LMGT3 Mustang squad, Proton Competition, did not seek the potential contract.
A key element in the development of the in-house team plan is understood to surround UK-based Venture Engineering, the company established a decade ago by a trio of ex-Prodrive managers, all of whom worked with Ford’s Hypercar programme manager Dan Sayers during his tenure at Aston Martin Racing as technical director.
Porsche
The rumbling issue of whether or not Porsche Penske Motorsport will continue on in the FIA WEC and/or IMSA continues to create waves in a variety of fashions.
It’s an uncertain time for its factory drivers, although DSC has been informed that several have been offered a one-year extension to their current contracts. The potential uncertainty, however, is likely to delay decisions from other teams, particularly those new to the class, as proven Hypercar talent may now be available in the marketplace, where it was previously presumed to be unavailable for consideration.
Another significant ripple would be that, should the incoming CEO (yet to be finally elected at Porsche), decide not to continue in the WEC, Porsche would not only not be permitted to race with an IMSA qualified or nominated car at Le Mans.
That decision would also have a knock-on effect at Proton Competition, which is believed to be unlikely to be granted permission to continue with a single 963 if the factory cars are withdrawn.
A separate option also exists, whereby Porsche provides support to Proton, which would have to run two manufacturer-nominated cars in the WEC to qualify for selection if PPM were to withdraw.
Alpine
Alpine’s victory sees the French factory team become the first to take wins in Hypercar with two different cars, this after a pair of wins in 2022 with the ex-Rebellion R13 – Alpine A480, grandfathered LMP1 car.
The win for the #35 crew is also the first in Hypercar for a crew without a Platinum-ranked driver; Ferdinand Habsburg, Paul Loup Chatin and Charles Milesi are all currently ranked Gold by the FIA (Though Milesi is set to be a Platinum in 2026).
The Fuji win also saw ORECA join Multimatic (Porsche with Penske and Hertz team Jota) and Dallara (Cadillac Hertz team Jota) as LMDh chassis/ spine suppliers, taking WEC race victories.
The Alpine A424 becomes the sixth different Hypercar to take a win in the FIA WEC since 2021.
