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24H Backstage | 24h-lemans.com

After taking home the FIA Endurance Hypercar Drivers Championship trophy in 2024, Porsche Penske Motorsport aimed even higher this year, seeking the Constructors title and a staggering 20th win at the 24 Hours. Here is a look back at a season marked by an epic duel at Le Mans and Porsche Penske Motorsport's retirement from the FIA WEC.

Porsche Penske Motorsport took on&nbsp;2025 with very clear marching orders: successfully defend&nbsp;the Drivers trophy,&nbsp;earn&nbsp;the Constructors title and add a record 20th win at the 24 Hours to its track record. Despite delivering a flawless race at Le Mans and reaching the top step on the podium at&nbsp;Lone Star Le Mans, the German team finished third in the FIA&nbsp;WEC, far from the goal it set at the beginning of the year.

<h2>14.084 seconds!</h2>

In 2025, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/the-porsche-963-under-the-microscope-built-for-win-20-59742" target="_blank">Porsche 963</a>&nbsp;kicked off its third campaign in the FIA WEC fuelled&nbsp;by the desire to carry on the legacy of icons&nbsp;like&nbsp;the the 917, 935, 956, 962 and 919 Hybrid.&nbsp;Having secured a second consecutive win&nbsp;at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the German Hypercar was poised to compete as a top contender all season, but failed to make it into the&nbsp;top 5 in any of the first three races.

Four Porsche 963s participated in&nbsp;the 93rd&nbsp;24 Hours: three entered by&nbsp;Porsche Penske Motorsport and one by&nbsp;Proton Competition.&nbsp;Despite a shaky start to the season, the the German carmaker&nbsp;reached a stellar performance&nbsp;level&nbsp;just in time to throw all its resources into the world&#39;s greatest endurance race.

After 387 laps, the&nbsp;#6 driven by&nbsp;K&eacute;vin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and&nbsp;Matt Campbell finished just 14.084 seconds behind AF Corse&#39;s wining #83&nbsp;Ferrari 499P. The&nbsp;tiny margin perfectly illustrates the intensity of this year&#39;s race.&nbsp;Laurens Vanthoor: We delivered an absolutely perfect race and virtually had one hand on the biggest trophy &ndash; you don&#39;t often come that close to such a triumph. What a pity!

Porsche&#39;s overall performance was impressive, with three 963s in the top 10.

One step closer to infinity | Porsche 963 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2025

Porsche 963 aux 24 Heures du Mans 2025 : un pas de plus vers l'infini

<h2>The&nbsp;Porsche 963&#39;s Time in the&nbsp;FIA WEC Has Come to an End</h2>

The <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/porsche-conquers-changing-conditions-to-triumph-in-texas-59935" target="_blank">Porsche 963 then won&nbsp;Lone Star Le Mans</a>&nbsp;in Austin, Texas.&nbsp;This momentum continued with third and fourth place finishes at the 6 Hours of Fuji. Nonetheless,&nbsp;Porsche Penske Motorsport ended the FIA Endurance Hypercar Constructors Championship in third&nbsp;place behind&nbsp;Ferrari and&nbsp;Toyota.&nbsp;

The 2025&nbsp;Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain signalled the final appearance of the&nbsp;Porsche 963&nbsp;representing&nbsp;Porsche Penske Motorsport in the FIA WEC. Porsche Motorsport Vice-President&nbsp;Thomas Laudenbach: Looking back over the past three years fills us with pride.

The&nbsp;963 is leaving the championship with four wins to its credit, one scored by customer team&nbsp;Hertz Team JOTA at the&nbsp;2024 TotalEnergies 6 Hours of&nbsp;Spa-Francorchamps.

Don&#39;t panic though. Porsche isn&#39;t leaving endurance racing altogether. You&#39;ll see the German marque in the&nbsp;2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as a veteran of the&nbsp;GTP category.

Despite failing to earn a coveted 20th victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year, the German constructor still holds an unparalleled record&nbsp;19 wins at the race.&nbsp;What a legacy!

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Porsche: the lap of honour before bowing out of the FIA WEC

Peugeot has learned a LOT after this mixed bag 2025 season. The 9X8 is improving, the team is restructuring and the goal is crystal clear: to place the French carmaker firmly at the top of the FIA ​​WEC and 24 Hours of Le Mans next year.

Though this season&#39;s results failed to meet&nbsp;the Peugot TotalEnergies team&#39;s expectations, things are looking up. The French&nbsp;constructeur is gearing up for the 2026 FIA World Endurance&nbsp;Championship (FIA WEC) by&nbsp;pushing&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/the-peugeot-9x8-under-the-microscope-has-the-lion-sharpened-its-claws-59722" target="_blank">9X8</a>&nbsp;to become a real contender in&nbsp;2026.

<h2>Joker on Deck</h2>

After positive performances at the end of the 2024 season, including a podium at the&nbsp;Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain, Peugeot headed into&nbsp;2025 looking to convert the momentum into more concrete&nbsp;results. Former&nbsp;Stellantis Motorsport Senior Vice-President Jean-Marc Finot:&nbsp;Now, we need to find a little more performance.&nbsp;The marque&nbsp;had already approved the use of a suspension-focused Joker as early as the Qatar 1812 km, a crucial decision toward improving&nbsp;the competitiveness of the 9X8.

For its&nbsp;2025 campaign, Peugeot fielded two&nbsp;9X8s: the&nbsp;#93&nbsp;entrusted to&nbsp;Paul di Resta, Mikkel Jensen and&nbsp;Jean-&Eacute;ric Vergne, and the&nbsp;#94 to&nbsp;Lo&iuml;c Duval, Malthe Jakobsen and&nbsp;Stoffel Vandoorne. The off-season was productive thanks to two testing sessions and efforts to improve reliability.

<h2>LetDown at the&nbsp;24 Hours Despite Daring Strategy</h2>

Peugeot seemed on an upward trajectory arriving&nbsp;at the 93rd&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans. The preparation was solid and&nbsp;the dynamic positive with a renewed sense of confidence.&nbsp;Everything pointed to&nbsp;a successful outcome, but the race had other plans. Peugeot TotalEnergies opted for a two-pronged strategy: take advantage of in-race&nbsp;opportunities and maximise stints, even doing&nbsp;triple&nbsp;stints on the same set of tyres. With&nbsp;13 laps per stint (one more than the competition), the objective was to gain a pit stop over the course of the race, though it meant sacrificing a few tenths of a second per lap. It was a gutsy plan that was working right up until circumstance&nbsp;jeopardised everything.

On the heels of a long stretch in&nbsp;the top 10, the&nbsp;#94&nbsp;was undermined by a spin-out after&nbsp;contact with another car. Despite the determination of&nbsp;Duval, Jakobsen and&nbsp;Vandoorne, it finished 12th, trailing the winning&nbsp;Ferrari by three laps. The&nbsp;#93 saw its race upended in the first hours. leaving the&nbsp;track to avoid an out of control GT3 in the Porsche Corners, then undergoing&nbsp;repairs&nbsp;to both the front and rear of the car, followed by a steering problem later in the evening. The setbacks cost the #93&nbsp;about 10&nbsp;minutes. Yet, di Resta, Jensen, and Vergne persevered&nbsp;and&nbsp;went on to secure&nbsp;a well-deserved 17th place finish.

Former Peugeot Sport Technical Director Olivier Jansonnie: Peugeot TotalEnergies turned in an impressive performance, with very few mistakes unlike some of our competitors who were frequently penalised.&nbsp;To achieve a respectable result here, we needed to be flawless. The engineers, mechanics and&nbsp;drivers came close to perfection.&nbsp;Bravo to everyone.&nbsp;The most important thing is to maintain this level of commitment; it will pay off in the end.

<h2>Encouraging Late Season</h2>

After the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans, Peugeot righted the ship with third place for the&nbsp;#94 at&nbsp;Lone Star Le Mans in&nbsp;Austin and&nbsp;second place for the&nbsp;#93 at the&nbsp;6 Hours of&nbsp;Fuji, the best result in the&nbsp;9X8&#39;s history. The French marque ended the season in&nbsp;seventh place in the FIA Endurance Hypercar Constructors Championship just ahead of&nbsp;Aston Martin. Finot:&nbsp;The potential is definitely there, and we can&rsquo;t wait to show it in 2026.&nbsp;

The&nbsp;2026 season could be a real turning point for the team. The retirement of&nbsp;Jean-Marc Finot has kicked off a new era. On&nbsp;31 January, Jansonnie will take his place at the helm of&nbsp;Stellantis Motorsport. The appointment was a logical choice&nbsp;given his&nbsp;intimate knowledge of&nbsp;the DNA and potential of the 9X8 programme.

Two driver changes are shaping preparations for next year.&nbsp;After a year serving as a reserve driver, Th&eacute;o Pourchaire has been given a seat in the&nbsp;#94 alongside&nbsp;Duval and&nbsp;Jakobsen, and 2023-2024 Formula E runner-up&nbsp;Nick Cassidy will add to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/team-peugeot-totalenergies-full-season-and-development-drivers-confirmed-for-2026-60135" target="_blank">French squad&#39;s</a>&nbsp;pure speed.

With this internal restructuring&nbsp;and strengthened line-up,&nbsp;Peugeot&nbsp;clearly aims to rise to&nbsp;a new level by&nbsp;clinching its first win in the&nbsp;FIA WEC, like Alpine and&nbsp;Cadillac did in&nbsp;2025, and add a fourth victory at the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans to its track record after those secured in&nbsp;1992, 1993 and&nbsp;2009. Will&nbsp;2026 finally be the year of the Lion?

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Peugeot: is 2026 the year the dream comes true?

The Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), organizer of the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans, today announced a series of transformative developments aimed at elevating the fan experience at one of the world’s most iconic motorsport events in partnership with Goodyear.

These enhancements are designed to enrich the atmosphere and accessibility of the 24 Hours of Le Mans weekend and reflect the ACO&rsquo;s ongoing commitment to innovation and excellence following several record-breaking editions of the race.

In partnership with Goodyear, a brand synonymous with racing, the ACO will introduce a refreshed presence at the circuit for the iconic brand starting in 2026. This follows Goodyear&rsquo;s announcement of a strengthened Global Racing organization and a renewed focus on endurance racing as a core platform for technology development.

These updates include:

<ul>
	<li>The inauguration of a Goodyear-branded bridge, built on the structure of the current Dunlop Bridge</li>
	<li>A full upgrade of the Goodyear Racing Club, located at the end of the first straight</li>
	<li>Renovation of the Goodyear Grandstand, adjacent to the ACO museum, as well as the Indianapolis Curve</li>
</ul>

To honor the legacy of the Dunlop Bridge, the ACO and Goodyear will donate a heritage collection of Dunlop Bridge memorabilia to the 24 Hours of Le Mans Museum, preserving its historic significance for future generations.

These changes reflect the ACO&rsquo;s stewardship of the Le Mans circuit and its assets, ensuring that every enhancement aligns with its vision for the future of endurance racing.

St&eacute;phane Andriolo, Head of Clients and Events, Automobile Club de l&rsquo;Ouest, commented: &quot;Le Mans is more than a race &ndash; it&rsquo;s a global celebration of motorsport heritage and innovation. With these new developments, we are reaffirming our commitment to delivering an unforgettable experience for fans and participants alike. The partnership with Goodyear allows us to honor the past while embracing the future of endurance racing.&quot;

<h2>Goodyear&rsquo;s enduring legacy and future-focused strategy</h2>

Goodyear&rsquo;s involvement in Le Mans is a cornerstone of its broader racing strategy, which aims to fuel innovation, amplify brand impact, and drive strategic growth across the company. With a legacy spanning over a century, Goodyear has achieved 14 overall victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 368 Formula One Grand Prix wins, and has over 70 years of success in NASCAR.

In 2023, Goodyear introduced the first in-tire, pre-cure, real-time tire intelligence capability at Le Mans in partnership with NASCAR&rsquo;s Garage 56 entry, showcasing its commitment to pioneering technologies in racing.

The year 2025 marks two major milestones for Goodyear: the 60th anniversary of its first win at Le Mans and the 45th anniversary of the Eagle tire brand. These celebrations coincide with a renewed commitment to racing and the beginning of a new chapter at Le Mans.

Xavier Fraipont, vice president, Global Racing for Goodyear, added: &quot;Le Mans is the highlight of the endurance racing calendar and a cornerstone of Goodyear&rsquo;s racing legacy. As we celebrate 45 years of the Eagle brand and 60 years since our first Le Mans win, we&rsquo;re proud to deepen our partnership with the ACO. The enhanced brand presence at the circuit reflects our future-focused strategy and our passion for innovation in racing.&quot;

ACO and Goodyear Announce Strategic Enhancements to the 24 Hours of Le Mans Experience

The evolution of the Mustang GT3 harnesses the unmistakable spirit of an American Icon and 60-plus years of rich racing heritage. It returns to grids worldwide in 2026 — sharpened, unbridled and ready to win.

The Evolution of Mustang GT3 | Ford Racing

Short highlights of the second race of the 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series in Malaysia on Sunday 14 December

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Getting to know TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

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Le Mans Magazine

Porsche: the lap of honour before bowing out of the FIA WEC

Peugeot: is 2026 the year the dream comes true?

ACO and Goodyear Announce Strategic Enhancements to the 24 Hours of Le Mans Experience

The Evolution of Mustang GT3 | Ford Racing

4 Hours of Sepang Race 2 Highlights

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