WEC Season Preview: Porsche
- Benjamin Crundwell
- 8 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Despite Porche’s absence in the Hypercar class in the WEC (World Endurance Championship), they have a strong lineup to defend their LMGT3 Championship from 2025. Both of their cars will once again be raced by Manthey, one in partnership with DK Engineering and the other with The Bend Motorsport.
As per usual, the Porsche in competition will be the 911 GT3 R, which features a 4.2L naturally aspirated flat six. The rear mounted engine will be water cooled, and capable of 565HP. The six speed gearbox is controlled by paddles on the steering wheel.
Having raced the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo with United Autosports last season, James Cottingham is switching to Porsche in 2026, along with the team he directs, DK Engineering. They will be debuting in the WEC this season with support from Manthey.
Cottingham shares the company with his parents, who founded the team in 1977, fixing up Jaguar’s to fund his own racing. In search of a new challenge, DK moved their focus to Ferraris, becoming specialists with the Italian marque. In modern day, DK Engineering sells and races classic cars, as well as racing in contemporary series such as the WEC.
Cottingham will team up with Timur Boguslavskiy and Ayhancan Güven in the No.91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche. Cottingham and Boguslavskiy each have competed in two previous seasons in the Championship, technically making Güven the less experienced driver of the trio.
Despite being a rookie to the WEC, Güven will be the strongest link, as a contracted Porsche factory driver. The Turkish driver has built a plethora of accolades, including an AsLMS (Asian Le Mans Series) Championship in 2023, but more recently the 2025 DTM Driver’s Championship and victory at the 2026 Bathurst 12h.
Racing with the most successful manufacturer of the LMGT3 era, Güven is optimistic of the No.91’s chances in 2026: “We are putting together a strong package, and with great chemistry, our goal must be to fight for the title!”
The second Porsche will sport the number 92 by The Bend Manthey, driven by Riccardo Pera, Richard Lietz and Yasser Shahin.
Pera and Lietz are returning off the back of winning the Driver’s and Team’s Championship in 2025 with Manthey 1st Phorm - with two race wins, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. For Lietz, this was not his first time, as he had previously won the LMGTE Championship in 2015 and had three class victories at Le Mans prior to his fourth last year.
Although Shahin is the only driver of the No.92 to not have a WEC Championship in his armoury, he does also have a class win at Le Mans, which he took in 2024 with Lietz and Morris Schurring.
Having raced with the BMW M4 GT3 and Team WRT last season, The Bend are returning to Porsche for the first time since 2024.
Looking forward to his title defense, Pera said: “We have a strong line-up and I can hardly wait for the season to start. Our goal is to build on this year's performances and achieve top results again.
“I'm particularly looking forward to sharing the car with Richard again, and we'll also have Yasser with us as our bronze driver. I already know him and know how fast he is – so the overall package looks really strong.”
Porsche has been ominous since the introduction of the LMGT3 class in 2024. As well as winning both Championships, they also secured a 1-2 in the Championship in 2024 and have the most race wins with seven from the available 16 races in the class’ history.
When Porsche haven’t been winning they’ve consistently been competitive regardless, only five of the last 16 podiums haven’t featured a Porsche 911 GT3 R. Four of these races came in 2025, when the second Porsche (the Iron Dames) struggled with bad luck and lack of pace, managing only a best result of fourth.
Porsche are hitting 2026 with extra ammunition. New upgrades to the GT3 R include louvres in the front wheel arches and aerodynamic redesigns to the rear wing, which improve the drivability and balance at the rear.
The director of racing at Manthey, Patrick Arkenau said: “We are very confident about our two driver line-ups, which feature newcomers, returning drivers and consistency in equal measure. In 2026, we want to pick up with both cars where we left off in 2025 and 2024 and celebrate the next successes together.”
Since the opening round of the WEC season at Qatar was cancelled, the first race will be the 6 Hours of Imola, on April 19th.
