Porsche has left the door ajar for a return to top-flight endurance racing, with motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach welcoming the direction of the World Endurance Championship's 2030 regulations while stressing that any comeback is years away and far from decided.
The German manufacturer pulled its factory 963 programme at the end of 2025, ending a works Hypercar effort run with Penske. Asked whether the next rule set could tempt Porsche back, Laudenbach was encouraging about the framework, if non-committal about the brand.
"We are very interested in where the rules go," he said. "I want to be positive about that."
His enthusiasm centred on the plan to scrap the current split between the LMH and LMDh categories in favour of a single technical platform from 2030. "We appreciate the general direction, mainly talking about having only one set of technical framework. There will not be LMH and LMDh in the future; it's what we wanted," Laudenbach said, describing the move as "a significant step" to "get rid of LMH and LMDh."
He was careful not to read that as a commitment. "There were reasons why we stopped our engagement. Obviously if you think about coming back, various aspects have to be considered," he said, before ruling out any near-term entry: "Don't expect us to be there next year." On a 2027 return specifically he was blunt - "If you ask me if we will be racing in WEC next year? No. We had a business decision" - and said the decision to stop "is in place, and there is no decision to come back, so far." Porsche remains committed to IMSA's GTP class through 2027.
Laudenbach also flagged that the new rules will demand fresh engineering regardless, with revised safety standards forcing a monocoque redesign, and said Porsche is staying close to the rule-makers: "We're in contact with the ACO and FIA; we are happy to contribute, which we will do, and we have been doing." A final verdict, he added, will have to wait: "Once we have the final rules and the detailed boundary conditions, we will answer that question. It's too early to create an opinion."
The caution sits awkwardly against the ambition voiced by the team's other half. Speaking earlier this year, Penske founder Roger Penske made no secret of wanting to be back on the grid. "We want to go back and we will," he said, insisting the squad had kept its endurance operation intact: "There's no question. We've kept all the infrastructure and we've got the best people." For now the rules are heading where Porsche wants - but the decision to use them has not been made.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/porsche-wont-rule-out-a-hypercar-return-but-not-before-2030). Visit for full coverage.*