06/11/2025

Proton admits it can’t fund two-car Porsche Hypercar entry in WEC 2026

Proton Competition has admitted that it doesn’t have the budget to expand to a two-car Hypercar operation in the World Endurance Championship, casting doubts over whether the Porsche 963 would remain on the grid in 2026.

Last month, Porsche announced that it would withdraw its factory Penske team from Hypercar next year to focus entirely on its more successful GTP programme in the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Porsche Penske Motorsport’s exit also has complications for its customer Proton, which has been running a single 963 on a customer basis since the second half of the 2023 WEC season.

The WEC’s current regulations require each manufacturer to field at least two cars in the Hypercar class in order to be eligible for an entry. In the absence of the factory team and lack of interest from other Porsche customers, Proton would be required to ramp up its operation and enter a second 963 to continue racing in Hypercar next year.

While Proton owner Christian Ried insisted that no decision has been made about 2026, he conceded that his family-run squad doesn’t have the necessary funding to operate two LMDh prototypes in WEC.

“For sure, we want two Fords, LMP2s in ELMS and some GTs. But when we talk about hypercars, nothing is decided,” Ried told Motorsport.com.

“[Adding a second car], it’s not really double [the cost], but it’s close to double and we simply don’t have the budget to run two cars.”

#5 Proton Competition Porsche 963: Neel Jani, Nico Varrone, Nico Pino

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

Proton has a second 963 chassis, which it entered for the full 2024 season in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, before downscaling the programme to just the Endurance Cup events this season. Chassis damage in Watkins Glen later forced to team to skip the six-hour Indianapolis fixture and Petit Le Mans.

Asked if Proton plans on contesting IMSA’s GTP class next year, Ried said: “So we have two cars and we see what we can do. Maybe we do nothing and just focus on the other programmes.”

Proton enjoyed a long and successful partnership with Porsche in GT ranks, but it switched to the new Ford Mustang GT3 last year at the start of WEC’s new LMGT3 era.

The team has already scored a podium in 2025, with Stefano Gattuso, Giammarco Levorato and Dennis Olsen finishing second at the Spa 6 Hours at the wheel of the #88 Ford Mustang.

The German squad will also benefit from the new Evo upgrade Ford is introducing to the Mustang GT3 in 2026.

“At the end, it was the right step to take after the end of GTE to [take] the next level, and we did.» Ried added. «We see what’s next, but there is no rush on our side.

“For sure, we focus on the Ford programme, which is very important with the Evo [upgrade]. I think the company took a big step. And the hypercar, if it happens, it happens. If not, not.”