News Summary

The FIA is reportedly considering appointing a new promoter for the World Endurance Championship as its contractual dispute with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest escalates—potentially placing the 24 Hours of Le Mans outside the WEC.

According to German publication Auto Motor und Sport, negotiations between the FIA and the ACO have failed to produce new agreements after two contracts governing their endurance-racing partnership expired in June.

The first agreement appoints Le Mans Endurance Management, an ACO subsidiary, to organise and promote the WEC. A separate contract establishes the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a round of the FIA world championship.

Neither the FIA nor the ACO has publicly confirmed that their partnership will end. However, the report says the governing body is examining whether to replace the ACO as WEC promoter and could launch a public tender for the championship’s commercial and organisational rights.

If the FIA awarded the WEC rights to another promoter without reaching a separate agreement with the ACO, Le Mans would probably no longer form part of the championship. That would not threaten the existence of the 24-hour race itself, which belongs to and is organised by the ACO, but it would separate the event from the series it has anchored since the WEC was revived in 2012.

The dispute centres on the renewal of the FIA–ACO contracts and the balance of commercial and regulatory authority between the two organisations.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has sought revised agreements across the federation’s world championships, securing new arrangements involving Formula 1, Formula E and the World Rally Championship. The WEC is reportedly the only major negotiation still unresolved.

According to FIA insiders cited by Auto Motor und Sport, the federation wants greater financial contributions, more visibility at race weekends and increased influence over technical regulation. The FIA already provides scrutineering, stewards and regulatory oversight, but the ACO has historically held an unusually powerful role in developing endurance racing’s top-class technical rules.

The previous agreements were considered particularly favourable to the ACO. Under terms negotiated during Jean Todt’s FIA presidency, the French organisation reportedly paid less to the governing body than other world-championship promoters.

In return, the ACO brought Le Mans—the most commercially and historically valuable endurance race—into the WEC. It also retained an active role in shaping the rules governing the championship’s leading prototype category.

Ben Sulayem publicly suggested during the 2026 Le Mans weekend that a renewed agreement was close. He described a meeting with Fillon in Paris and indicated that the contract would be completed the following week. No new agreement has subsequently been announced.

The German report claims the relationship between Ben Sulayem and Fillon has since deteriorated. It also says Richard Mille, president of the FIA Endurance Commission, is expected to leave his position at the end of 2026.

Speaking at Le Mans in June, Ben Sulayem argued that the championship’s governance and regulations needed to remain balanced with the authority of the FIA as the owner of the WEC title. He also characterised Le Mans as ultimately operating within the FIA framework, despite the ACO’s ownership and control of the event.

A separation would have consequences extending far beyond the championship calendar. The ACO, FIA and IMSA currently cooperate on technical convergence, allowing LMH and LMDh machinery to compete together in the WEC’s Hypercar category and IMSA’s GTP class.

That framework has attracted Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Genesis, McLaren, Peugeot and Toyota to the 2027 Le Mans grid. Ford is also preparing to enter the Hypercar category under the next phase of regulations.

Transferring control of the WEC to another promoter could change who leads the development of the 2030 technical regulations and complicate the partnership with IMSA. Manufacturers would then have to assess whether to support an FIA championship without Le Mans, an ACO-led competition centred on the race, or any compromise eventually reached between the organisations.

For now, Le Mans remains part of the World Endurance Championship, and no alternative promoter has been formally announced. The ACO is already promoting the 95th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans for June 9–13, 2027.

FAQ

Could the 24 Hours of Le Mans leave the WEC?

Yes, but no separation has been confirmed. If the FIA replaces the ACO as WEC promoter and the organisations do not renew the separate agreement covering Le Mans, the race could cease to count towards the championship.

Is the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans at risk of cancellation?

No. The reported dispute concerns Le Mans’ position within the WEC, not whether the race will take place. The ACO has already announced the 2027 event for June 9–13.

Who currently promotes the World Endurance Championship?

Le Mans Endurance Management, a subsidiary of the ACO, operates the WEC under its partnership with the FIA. Auto Motor und Sport reports that the governing body is considering a new promoter after the existing agreements expired.