The provisional entry list for the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans confirms an event in transition: the Hypercar field has shrunk to 18 cars, Porsche has stepped aside from the top class, and a brand-new manufacturer in Genesis is set to make its debut at La Sarthe.
The Automobile Club de l'Ouest has accepted 62 cars in total for the 94th running of the great endurance classic — a full grid that retains capacity at the venue but reorganises itself sharply around the top end. Hypercar is the headline change. Down from 21 entries in 2025, the class now lines up with eight manufacturers spread across 18 cars: Toyota, Ferrari, Cadillac, BMW, Aston Martin, Alpine, Peugeot and the new Genesis programme.
Porsche's absence is the most striking storyline. The German manufacturer claimed the 2025 IMSA GTP championship and would have been entitled to an automatic invitation to Le Mans, but its decision not to commit to a full eight-round 2026 World Endurance Championship campaign cost it the auto-invite. As organisers put it, "its exit from the eight-round WEC prevented it from taking up its auto-invite." Penske Motorsports' withdrawal of the works 963 LMDh effort from WEC has effectively closed the door on a Le Mans entry, even with the cars still racing successfully in IMSA.
Action Express Racing has also dropped off the entry list after running at La Sarthe every year since the LMDh ruleset was first eligible in 2023. That leaves Cadillac with a slimmer manufacturer footprint, but Wayne Taylor Racing returns with its established line-up of Filipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor and Jordan Taylor — a crew unchanged from last year and now starting to look like one of the most settled in the class.
Genesis is the entry that everyone in the paddock has spent the off-season talking about. The Hyundai-owned luxury brand is fielding two Oreca-based GMR001 LMDh cars across the full WEC season, becoming the first Korean manufacturer to compete in the top class at Le Mans. Driver line-ups have not been finalised at the time of the provisional entry, but the team is widely expected to recruit experience from the existing Hypercar and Le Mans Hypercar pools.
Toyota lines up with what is effectively a winter rebuild. The Hypercar that fans have come to know as the GR010 Hybrid has been rebadged the TR010 Hybrid following its overhaul, and the squad's third successive Imola WEC victory earlier this month has confirmed the package is again in fighting shape.
Ferrari, meanwhile, arrives in France carrying the weight of a hat-trick attempt. The Italian marque has won the past three editions of the 24 Hours and is expected to receive significant Hypercar competition from a Toyota that beat it on home soil at Imola.
There is one farewell on the list as well. Alpine is set to make its final Le Mans appearance in 2026 before pulling out of the WEC at the end of the season. The French manufacturer has not had the breakthrough year it was hoping for since stepping up to LMDh, but the prospect of a final swing at La Sarthe will give its supporters one more weekend to cheer.
The entry list is provisional, with reserves still to be promoted in the months ahead, and additional changes to driver line-ups expected as season-long Hypercar deals settle. But the broad shape of the 2026 race is now clear: Toyota and Ferrari front and centre, Alpine bowing out, Genesis stepping in and Porsche watching from afar.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/le-mans-2026-entry-hypercar-shrinks-porsche-exits-genesis). Visit for full coverage.*

