Witb the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA Sportscar Championship's provisional 2025 entry lists now both public, it's high time we look at both and what to expect next year.
This is part 1, looking at the GTP and Hypercar classes in IMSA and WEC. Part 2, coming tomorrow, will look at the entry lists for the GT3-based classes in each championship, plus LMP2 in IMSA.
GTP and Hypercar
You'll see all the usual suspects in IMSA and WEC's top classes, from the likes of Cadillac, BMW, and Porsche in both series, plus Ferrari, Toyota, Peugeot, and Alpine in WEC and the addition of Acura and, notably, Lamborghini in IMSA.
Phil Oakley
Lamborghini's downfall
Lamborghini's withdrawal from WEC competition has caused a lot of discussion. When it comes down to it, it was largely the new-for-2025 two mandate that sealed the programme's fate, although there were other factors at play too.
When the two-car requirement in WEC was first announced before Le Mans earlier this year, Lamborghini were initially confident the programme could expand to two cars in 2025.
This hadn't been the initial plan — that was to continue with a single car in both IMSA and WEC — but there seemed to be no or very little doubts the WEC programme could expand, at least on a public-facing front.
However, in March, before the two-car requirement was publicly announced, former Lamborghini Squadra Corsa chief Giorgio Sanna left the team, with no reason given for his departure, at the time or since.
Lamborghini's LMDh programme will be downscaled to only five IMSA races in 2025. Images: Javier Jiminez, DPPI
He is said to have been the SC63's internal champion. The car had had a somewhat troubled development, with one chassis being written off in a testing crash, meaning that development and homologation was rushed.
The on-track performance didn't live up to expectations either, and by September, there were rumblings in the paddock that Lamborghini would struggle to justify or afford a two-car WEC programme in 2025.
Additionally, due to poor performance not just from the Hypercar programme but the LMGT3 programme as well, the Italian manufacturer and its factory partner team Iron Lynx were reportedly at loggerheads, playing the blame game.
All this has culminated in Lamborghini's complete withdrawal from WEC for next year.
It's currently unknown what this means for the IMSA GTP effort, and whether that will continue. It's currently only entered for the IMSA Endurance Cup rounds, the 'championship within a championship', which Lamborghini also raced in next year. Initially there were reports that Lamborghini would enter two cars in IMSA — president John Doonan hinted at an exciting addition to the entry list that was being finalised at the time of the list's publication in October — but these seem to have died down.
For its part, Lamborghini released a statement shortly after the WEC entry list was announced. They said:
Competing at the highest level is an honour for Lamborghini Squadra Corse and remains an ambition for the years to come. The change in the FIA WEC sporting regulations which now also mandates brands to field two cars in the Hypercar class from 2025 also changes the terms on which Lamborghini entered the championship this year and is no longer aligned with the company’s strategy.
Lamborghini has therefore evaluated its options and elected to sit out the 2025 FIA WEC while remaining committed to the SC63 development by continuing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the United States.
The pause in the FIA WEC programme also allows Lamborghini Squadra Corse to focus efforts on the development of the new Temerario GT3 throughout the year, with the former set to be formally unveiled after completing outdoor testing during 2025.
Notably, this doesn't say Iron Lynx will be running the IMSA programme...
There's currently no word on whether Lamborghini could be back in Hypercar in 2026. The entry list is expected to fill up though, so it may be tough to find a spot.
THOR and the Valkyrie
An exciting addition to the grid in 2025, in both championships, is the arrival of Aston Martin with the Valkyrie LMH.
Unfortunately, the car won't race at Daytona in late January, with Aston and The Heart of Racing, who will run the project on the British manufacturer's behalf, choosing to skip the 24 hour IMSA season opener to spend more time developing the car before homologation.
It's important to note that Aston never said they'd race at Daytona — they just left the option open. So while a shame, it's not entirely unexpected.
What is exciting, though, is the fact they'll have a car in IMSA at all, though. This will be the first LMH-rules car to race in IMSA's GTP category, and one without a hybrid component at that. Let's hope it spurs others on to race in the States too.
Aston Martin's Valkyrie LMH will race in both IMSA and WEC next year. Images: Aston Martin
The WEC two car effort, running with numbers #007 and #009 (it won't be confusing at all with a well-known #7 car on the grid already...) will be helmed by Harry Tincknell and gold-rated Alex Riberas. In IMSA, it's expected Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn will form the full-time driver lineup, with others joining for the endurance rounds.
The car tested at Daytona recently in the sanctioned test alongside other cars, so it seems development is going as well as could be expected. Do note that for homologation, because the car is built to the 'bespoke prototype' route set out in the LMH technical regulations, Aston do not have to manufacture or sell 20 Valkyrie road cars in order to have the car homologated. This is the same for every other LMH manufacturer — Ferrari, Toyota, Peugeot, Vanwall, and Isotta Fraschini.
Cadillac's new partnerships
Cadillac and JOTA have officially partnered up for a factory-backed effort run by the British team on behalf of the American GM-owned brand.
Phil Oakley
For fans of Cadillac, this is very exciting. Two cars in the series, run by a team who's won multiple WEC races and championships in LMP2 over the years, and a Hypercar overall victory at Spa earlier this year. The gold livery will remain, too, thanks to Hertz's continued sponsorship of the team.
The car's will be crewed by Alex Lynn, in the #12 machine, and Earl Bamber in the #38. They'll be joined by Jenson Button, Will Stevens, Norman Nato and Sebastien Bourdais, although the specific car lineups is unknown at the moment.
Over in IMSA, Cadillac will have three factory-backed cars on the grid. Two will run by Wayne Taylor Racing — the Andretti name conspicuously absent from the entry list — and the other by long-time GM-backed team Action Express Racing.
Chip Ganassi Racing's colourful Cadillacs won't be back in 2025, but JOTA and WTR will run the cars in WEC and IMSA. Images: Javier Jiminez, DPPI / Cadillac
Acura and Meyer Shank patch up differences
Meyer Shank is back in IMSA! Surprisingly, this is with Acura.
The two split up after 2023, amid a cheating scandal involving tyre pressure at Daytona, which enabled the team and manufacturer to win the race. Reportedly, this was an isolated incident due to a rogue employee, and not something the team at large knew about. Interestingly, Acura themselves — or rather, Honda Performance Development, at the time's Honda's US racing arm — dobbed the team in to IMSA.
This appears to have all been patched up though. Meyer Shank will race two Acura ARX-06s in the full IMSA Sportscar Championship next year, with Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun in the #60. Former Cadillac and BMW stalwarts Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly will race the sister #93 car.
Unfortunately, there is still no sign of Honda bringing the ARX-06 over to Europe to enter WEC. A shame – with how well its Oreca-chassised cousin, the Alpine A424, is doing in WEC, the Acura/Honda would surely see success in the world championship.
Meyer Shank will run two Acura ARX-06s in IMSA next year. Images: LAT Images / Acura
Other notable things
There's no second Proton Competition entry in the world championship, as was expected, with just a single #99 car, with Neel Jani at the wheel, listed on the entry list.
This is quite interesting, since the German team scaled down its IMSA effort to only race in the Endurance Cup rounds, amid the expected second car in WEC. Maybe we'll see the IMSA car make its way over to race at Le Mans in June?
The Racing Line has reached out to Proton to see if the team has any comments, but has not received a response so far.
Finally, there's no 'boutique' entrants in WEC this year, with a lack of either ~ByKolles~ Vanwall or Isotta Fraschini on the entry list. This is despite the Vanwall car having a complete overhaul, according to Total-Motorsport, with new aerodynamics and a more powerful engine sourced from Pipo Moteurs, which also powered the Glickenhaus 007 LMH.
Tomorrow, we'll have part 2 of this article, looking at the GT3-based classes in IMSA and WEC, plus LMP2 in IMSA.
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