GT Sports Cars & Prototypes Racing News

[Stormy_Monday]

[Stormy_Monday]

https://www.planetf1.com/news/max-verst ... qualifying

[996C438]

Max Verstappen gets his Permit A , that now allows him to race GT3 cars at Nurburgring .

[WillyDaP]

I wonder if he has to run a " Rookie " symbol on the back of the car he drives, ha!

[blueline]

"Long-Term Rule Changes Under Discussion for Sports Cars"
"Talks continue on how to meld the rulebooks for LMH, created by Le Mans, and the LMDh formulated by IMSA."

I'd like to see this happen - would ultimately be good for everyone involved, including fans, teams, manufacturers, TV & media coverage, tracks, etc.

Autoweek:
https://www.autoweek.com/racing/more-ra ... 63e104c301

the-porsche-penske-motorsport-porsche-963-of-kevin-estre-news-photo-1758205934.jpeg (72.9 KiB) Viewed 507 times

Ker Robertson//Getty Images

[996C438]

Max is an unbelievable talent , not surprised by the results at all . Must be nice to win your first GT3 win on your first attempt .

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/max- ... /10762998/

[996C438]

Porsche ending their WEC program after this year .

Porsche Pulls Plug on Factory Hypercar Program – Sportscar365 https://share.google/TmGQ8wQjxiJOWpYPa

[blueline]

Porsche ending their WEC program after this year .

Porsche Pulls Plug on Factory Hypercar Program – Sportscar365 https://share.google/TmGQ8wQjxiJOWpYPa

That's a huge blow. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, considering the things that have gone wrong within the company and the uphill battles it's facing.

This was a sad line: "Without a factory effort for next year, Porsche’s future involvement in the WEC’s Hypercar class, and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, remains unclear."

[RDMcG]

I would say that Porsche's future is quite worrying.

Of course ,they have had some very rough patches in the past, but margins have been slashed, product roadmap has had to be revised, they have no replacement for the 718 in Europe, and we have the whole tariff issue leaving them exposed without any US plants.

The withdrawal from WEC is not in itself critical, but longer term the DNA of the company as always included success at the highest level of competition. The attempt to do a deal wth Red Bull for F1 presence did not work out, though Audi will be present .

At a broader level there is a lot of weakness in Western economies so the prospect of overall reduced demand will hit more severely in expensive cars, plus of course there is the Chinese pivot away from them.

Hopefully they will fix their issues as they have in past downturns.

[blueline]

Re Porsche pulling their WEC hypercar racing:

Earlier this evening Porsche posted this piece via their regular marketing email. Hmmmm. One hand doth not know what the other doeth? (Or else panic has set in with sudden, unannounced slashing to cut costs quickly.) What are we missing???

"The World Endurance Championship (WEC) and IMSA have revealed their calendars for 2026, with Porsche Penske Motorsport ready for another season of thrilling racing."

https://racing.porsche.com/en-US/articl ... nouncement


2026 FIA World Endurance Championship calendar:

March 22-23: Official Prologue
March 28: Qatar 1812km
April 19: 6 Hours of Imola
May 9: 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
June 13-14: 24 Hours of Le Mans
July 12: 6 Hours of São Paulo
September 6: Lone Star Le Mans
September 27: 6 Hours of Fuji
November 7: 8 Hours of Bahrain


2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship calendar:

January 16-18: Roar Before The 24
January 21-25: Rolex 24 At Daytona
March 18-21: 12 Hours of Sebring
April 17-18: Grand Prix of Long Beach
May 1-3: Monterey Sportscar Championship, Laguna Seca
May 5-7: Detroit Sports Car Classic
June 25-28: 6 Hours of Watkins Glen
July 10-12: Chevrolet Grand Prix, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
July 30-August 2: 6 Hours of Road America
August 21-23: VIR GT Challenge
September 18-20: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
September 30-October 3: Petit Le Mans

WECcalendar2_kw9kb9.jpg (709.57 KiB) Viewed 445 times