WEC Grid Growth Put On Pause For 2025, 36 Cars Set To Compete

The official entry list for the 2025 WEC season was released by the FIA, and the grid will see plenty of shuffled pieces up and down the paddock, but overall growth will remain static from 2024.

One of the key reasons why some GT teams have pulled themselves off the grid as well as not seeing an overall increased number of cars that will compete in 2025 is the report that the cost for fielding a team in the WEC circuit is "likely to exceed the $5 million mark per car for many teams," according to Racer.com. This is due to a variety of reasons, highlighted by the shift to use air freight for transporting cars around the world, as well as the need for teams to install dashboard cams on all cars and adding the cost of fitting digital number/info panels onto the cars as well. 

Both the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes will see 18 cars run in 2025 with a number of teams incoming, and a number of others departing. Let's dive in quickly, first in the Hypercar class -

• The FIA's vision of seeing two Hypercars per manufacturer has been realized for the upcoming season, as brands Aston Martin, Porsche, Cadillac, Toyota, Ferrari, BMW, Alpine and Peugeot will all run two cars under their control, making up 16 of the 18 cars on the grid 
• The last two entries will serve as customer-backed programs, as both the No. 99 Proton 963 and the No. 83 AF Corse 499P will run in the top flight for the second-straight season
• Lamborghini officially withdrew their SC63 from the WEC, while the Isotta Fraschini did not make the cut as well, primarily due to the budget requirements of needing to run two cars in the class. For both Lambo and IF, the financial side just didn't catch up to the timing of the FIA and WEC's mandate for brands to run two cars a piece. More on that in a second
  
  

For LMGT3 - 

• The most noteworthy departure from the grid goes hand-in-hand with the SC63 leaving the Hypercar list, as the Iron Lynx program has moved away from Lamborghini entirely and will roll with a pair of Mercedes-AMG GT3s instead, marking the debut of the GT3 machine in the WEC and will serve as Mercedes' first trip to Le Mans since 1999. 
• Another major move is the Iron Dames linking back up with Porsche as they too depart the Iron Lynx Huracan. The Dames are partnering up Manthey Racing to field their Porsche machine.
• For the rest of the LMGT3 grid, we have essentially the two-car stability that we also see in the Hypercar class, as all 18 cars are evenly split between nine manufacturers.
• D'Station Racing has departed the grid, yet their Aston Martin has been taken over by Racing Spirit of Leman, as they're joined by the Heart of Racing as the other Vantage GT3 Evo on the track.
• After a shaky first season, both Proton Ford's are back for 2025 and we're hoping for much more success than they saw in 2024.
  
  
  
  
  

So, now that we now the Class of 2025, let's look ahead and peak to 2026, yeah? What can we expect as the WEC continues to grow in popularity and interest? The easiest picture to paint will be the arrival of the Hyundai Genesis HY/LMGT3 program, which if we're expecting their arrival for 2026 and anticipating that they'll deploy two cars each in both classes, it would push the grid total to 40 cars. The FIA has projected a potential Hypercar field of 22 cars, meaning that if Lamborghini are serious about returning after taking the 2025 season off, could two SC63s be added to eclipse that 22-car projection? 

For now we're going to put the rest of the conversation on pause because this all gets even more complicated once you remember that both McLaren and Mercedes are wanting to get in on the Hypercar game as well, and with two MORE brands aiming to get in on the action, the challenge of finding space on the grid becomes harder and harder. Dare we throw out the idea of the factory-backed Hypercars break away from the current format to create their own 25 or 30-car competition? Which in doing so would allow a new grouping of customer-backed Hypercars to compete with the GT cars? In that scenario, which series would be the WEC, and which would be the XYZ World Championships? 

Like we said, that's a lot to unpack, but at this point I'm willing to bet that's where we're heading. 

(photo credit - 24lemans.com)

(source - racer.com)