Nearly two months after confirming it would not continue in the World Endurance Championship, Porsche Penske Motorsport has revealed the six drivers who will carry its colours in the IMSA SportsCar Championship next year.
And while Saturday night’s Night of Champions in Zuffenhausen may shed further light on the brand’s wider endurance plans, we now have a much clearer picture of what awaits the bulk of Porsche’s factory talent.
The expected confirmations
As anticipated, 2024 world champions Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor remain within the Porsche Penske structure, but will swap the WEC for IMSA. The long-time pairing will share the #6 Porsche 963, extending their partnership into a seventh season, and a fifth consecutive at the top level of prototype racing.
“Twelve years after my last and only full IMSA season, I feel almost like a rookie,” Estre joked. “We’ll step into the championship car, no pressure…”
For Vanthoor, the last full IMSA campaign dates back to 2021, when he clinched the GTD title, two seasons after securing the GTLM crown.
Felipe Nasr, IMSA champion in 2021, also stays put for a fourth straight year aboard the #7 963. But he gets yet another new team-mate. After partnering with Dane Cameron in 2023 and 2024, then Nick Tandy in 2025, Nasr will now share the car with Julien Andlauer.
But what of the 2025 IMSA champions? Mathieu Jaminet has already departed after 10 years with Porsche, joining Hyundai’s new Genesis Magma Racing programme. Matt Campbell, meanwhile, will join Estre and Vanthoor in the #6 for the Daytona 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours and Petit Le Mans.
Why isn’t the Australian doing the full season? Quite simply, because his medium-term future lies not with Porsche, but probably with Ford, which will enter the WEC Hypercar class in 2027. Ford is set to devote the end of 2026 to development, and Campbell is expected to be a key piece of that effort. Nasr, too, is widely believed to be joining the Ford project once the 2026 IMSA season concludes.
A promotion
The most eye-catching move is the arrival of Laurin Heinrich as the third driver in the #7 car for the three long-distance races. Surprising, and yet not. Before Porsche decided to end its WEC programme, Heinrich had actually been in line for a full-season GTP seat in one of the two factory 963s.
The 2024 GTD Pro champion made his 963 race debut a few weeks ago at the WEC finale in Bahrain. And while a 14th-place finish was far from spectacular, his performance gave Porsche Penske Motorsport the assurances it needed.
While not yet officially announced, both IMSA trios are expected to be bolstered at the Daytona 24 Hours by Penske IndyCar stars Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin.
Some drivers left on the sidelines
One omission stands out immediately: Nick Tandy is no longer part of the Porsche Penske prototype picture. Given the Briton’s highly influential 2025 season, even if blemished by a few mid-season errors, it’s a surprising call.
Tandy’s 2025 campaign delivered the two major IMSA victories missing from his résumé: the Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours, both alongside Nasr and Vanthoor. And in doing so, he became the first driver ever to win all four of the world’s major 24-hour races: Le Mans, Spa, Nürburgring, and Daytona.
Ultimately, Tandy effectively swaps seats with Heinrich, moving to the fan-favourite #77 ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3 R at AO Racing. He’ll share the car with Harry King, the rising British talent who first broke through by winning the 2021 Porsche Carrera Cup GB.
King, now 24, claimed the 2025 GT World Challenge Endurance Gold Cup title in a Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO. He will face high expectations, given the competitiveness of previous line-ups in the ‘Rexy’ machine.
Tandy’s new programme is a decent one. And he is for sure a good choice for AO Racing, as he’s won at every venue the IMSA series will visit in 2026. Still, it’s hard not to regret seeing the 2015 Le Mans winner absent from the top class. Multiple manufacturers - including Alpine - were ready to bring Tandy into their Hypercar fold, but Porsche opted to retain him within its structure instead.
All three AO Racing drivers will be reinforced at the long-distance rounds by another Porsche factory name: Alessio Picariello. The Belgian takes over the seat filled in 2025 by Michael Christensen, who was dropped from the Porsche Penske WEC line-up after the Austin round in early September. AO Racing will also not retain him, and it now appears increasingly likely that Porsche and Christensen are heading for a permanent split.
