Endurance Weekly: 5th - 11th June

Credit: FIA WEC

This week on Endurance Weekly, the DIVEBOMB endurance team look forward to the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans and report on all of the breaking news stories you may have missed over the past week.

24 Hours of Le Mans preview

The fourth round of the WEC (World Endurance Championship) will host the world’s biggest endurance event at Circuit de la Sarthe in the city of Le Mans, France. The race will commence on Saturday, 14th June at 4:00pm local time.

Qualifying for the LMGT3 and LMP2 categories will begin on Wednesday, 11 June at 6:45pm local time, followed by qualifying for the Hypercars at 7:30pm on the same day. 

No rain is forecasted for the race weekend, though it is expected to be slightly cloudy at the start of the main race, and eventually warm and sunny heading into the next day.

In the Hypercar field, Aston Martin is set to run its two modified Valkyries, marking a return to the premier class for the first time since 2011. 

Sarah Bovy will take on driver duties in Iron Dames, replacing the injured Michelle Gatting. In Genesis, Le Mans veteran André Lotterer will sub for Daniel Juncadella, who will be driving with TF Sport in LMGT3.

The unusual nature of the track allowed the ACO(L’Automobile Club de l’Ouest) to set a different BoP (Balance of Performance) for this particular race. Porsche, Peugeot and BMW remain the same, while the others, including the new Valkyries and Mercedes, will undergo minor tweaks in their systems.

Unsurprisingly, Ferrari look to be the strong favourites to win here. After three consecutive victories this season, plus an excellent record at this circuit since its return in 2023, this may be a breeze for the Italian marque.

However, Toyota and Alpine have the potential to rival Ferrari’s pace. Test day on Sunday saw the No.8 Toyota topping the timesheets over Ferrari by half a second, courtesy of Brendon Hartley’s mega stints. Mick Schumacher’s late run placed his No.36 Alpine into fourth.

Porsche, BMW and Cadillac followed behind the frontrunners, all separated by fractions of a second. Despite showing minor progress and finishing ahead of Peugeot in 18th, it wasn’t enough for Aston Martin to look to be in contention.

As for the LMGT3 class, it was much more unpredictable compared to the top class. The first round in Qatar saw a Corvette win, half a second ahead of McLaren. In Imola, Porsche took the victory over BMW. In the 6 Hours of Spa, it was Ferrari’s turn to be on the top step of the podium. 

At the end, it’s all to play for at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

WEC (World Endurance Championship) news

Injury prevents Michelle Gatting from racing at Le Mans

Credit: Iron Dames

The Iron Dames’ Gold driver, Michelle Gatting, is unable to participate in this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans due to injury. The Danish driver took part in the test last week, but during a practice driver change she broke her ankle.

Gatting will be replaced by a regular for the pink team, Sarah Bovy. Bovy is no stranger to Le Mans, having raced there four times in the past. She will team up with Célia Martin, who has not raced at the French track before, and Rahel Frey who has competed at Le Mans seven times in the past. 

Gatting’s injury comes after the Iron Dames crew announced a special “powering your dreams” livery for their seventh running in the famous race, and once again the No.85 Porsche is the only all-female team on the grid.

Porsche reveal road-legal Porsche 963 RSP

Credit: Porsche 

Ahead of the Le Mans race, Timo Berhnard debuted the Porsche 963 RSP on French public roads. Like its 50 year old equivalent, the “Count Rossi” 917K, the 963 RSP is a road-legal car, but Porsche insists it is still “every bit a racecar.”

Changes made to make the car road-legal included raising the ride height, adding indicators and a horn and making the headlights suitable for road use. Additionally, the interior of the car has been revamped in a luxury style. 

Michelin release new endurance tyre

Credit: Michelin

Michelin revealed their brand new tyre for the 2026 WEC Hypercar season this week, an updated version from the current tyre. The compound will have a threaded design (seen above), but this only serves a visual purpose, as it will disappear from the tyre after a lap of use. 

The main aim of the tyre is sustainability, with 50% of the materials used being fully renewable (up from 30% previously). Once each tyre is used, it will also be recycled, using some of the materials for the manufacturing of road car tyres. 

Alongside sustainability, the tyres will also be more durable. Michelin’s main goal is to have a tyre that can withstand five consecutive stints at Le Mans in one year. For next year, using only two sets of tyres during the six hour events may be possible. The French tyre manufacturer also hopes to use this tyre in the 2026, 2027 and 2028 seasons, and possibly beyond. 

The model has been in development since 2023, with many tests will the current Hypercar teams. The tyre will undergo one final test at Watkins Glen next month before manufacturing and eventually being rolled out for the start of next season. 

Nürburgring 24h news

Nürburgring 24h entry list released

Credit: Luna Maas

The entry list for the second of the three 24 hour races in June has been released, and it’s 141 cars long. The Nürburgring 24h will have 27 cars in the SP9 (GT3) class from eight different manufacturers. The other 114 cars are entered in a range of other classes, from Porsche Cup cars to classic motors. 

Porsche have seven cars entering the race, led by the No.911 Manthey EMA “Grello” car. The feared “Grello” will be driven by Kevin Estre, Thomas Preining and Ayhancan Güven, who are all very experienced at the Nordschleife. 

The No.16 Porsche will be entered by Scherer Sport PHX, who won last year's race in  an Audi. Scherer Sport will once again enter an Audi as their second car, which will use the number one. 

The Ford Mustang is set to make its Nürburgring 24h debut this year, with four of the Mustang GT3s running, three of which entered by HRT Ford Performance. The other big car, BMW, will only enter one car this year due to an overpacked schedule in the 72 hours of June. 

Like BMW, Ferrari will only enter one race car compared to Mercedes and Lamborghini who will enter three cars each. 

Outside of the SP9 class, big names and teams are scattered across the field, such as the No.150 Bilstein BMW driven by Jimmy Broadbent, Steve Brown (AKA SuperGT), Misha Charoudin and Manuel Metzger. The “YouTube car” will compete in the SP8T class.

That caps off this week’s edition of Endurance Weekly. Make sure to join us again next week as we recap the result of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and cover any other developing and new stories over the next week.