The real problems caused by Porsche's shock exit

Porsche's withdrawal from LMP1 gives the World Endurance Championship a problem. Actually two problems - one short-term and one long-term.

The German manufacturer's decision means that we're either going to have a single manufacturer at the front of the field in the WEC and at the Le Mans 24 Hours next year or no manufacturers at all. Neither is a particularly satisfactory state of affairs.

That's the short-term problem. The longer-term is highlighted by the fact that new regulations for 2020, which Porsche's P1 technical boffins helped formulate, weren't enough to persuade the company's board to hang around in what many of us consider to be its rightful place in the world of motorsport. And by that I mean the top flight of international sportscar racing.

We can expect Toyota to dominate next year should it carry through on its commitment to race on in the series. Not good.

Should Toyota decide it doesn't want to continue without proper opposition, or at least not to haul its cars around the world to win every WEC race at a canter, then we're left with the prospect of the P1 privateers battling it out at the front. Again, not good.

The WEC needs manufacturers in LMP1 to provide the icing on what is a multi-tiered cake. We should never forget that the series has four classes, but we must also remember that it is the lure of top-name drivers in high-tech cars built by some of the best teams in the business that motivates fans to pay to come through the gate, turn on their TVs or even click on web stories.

Privateers are an essential part of the sportscar racing landscape. They always have been and, I hope, always will be. But neither the WEC nor Le Mans can hang its hat on a band of plucky independents.

There are massive financial implications, too. Manufacturers bring money. I'm not so much talking about the €360,000 entry fee they have to pay to participate in LMP1 in the WEC as the much larger sums they spend - particularly at Le Mans - on hospitality, trackside advertising and the like.

The WEC needs manufacturers, but right now it doesn't appear to be appealing to them. At least not Porsche.

The men in suits in Stuttgart have decided that Formula E is the better way forward for a manufacturer that has announced its intention to start rolling out a range of electric vehicles before the end of the decade.

If a manufacturer incumbent in P1 wasn't convinced that the WEC is the right place to showcase its technological prowess in a changing world, then will others be persuaded it is?

That remains a big question. Because no newcomer has stuck its head above the parapet to say nice things about a new set of rules that will introduce zero-emissions running and plug-in hybrid technology to the WEC.

So what now for the WEC? Or should we even be calling the series that? We all believe that the agreement between the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, the promoter of the series, and the FIA calls for there to be two manufacturers at the front for it to hold world championship status.

Think back to the inaugural year of the reborn series in 2012. Peugeot pulled out just months before the opening race and Toyota, then planning only a handful of outings in what it was billing as a development year, had to be persuaded to make full-season entries to ensure the world championship name was retained.

Series boss Gerard Neveu appeared to reiterate this at the end of last year. He was quick to point out in the wake of Audi's withdrawal that the participation of only two manufacturers was stipulated at a time were when some were speculating that its latest agreement with the FIA called for three.

The situation has changed since the end of last year, because the GT titles for drivers and manufacturers are now full world championships. They were upgraded from their former 'cup' status after Ford entered GTE Pro last year and BMW announced that it would be joining the party in 2018.

WEC sources have been keen to point this out in the wake of Porsche's announcement. They are also insisting that the prototype drivers in LMP1 and LMP2 will again be fighting for a pukka world crown next year, while conceding that the P1 manufacturers' title won't be a world championship.

There are, however, more pressing problems than the semantics of whether people are competing for a championship, a cup, a trophy or a Blue Peter badge. If there aren't any manufacturers in LMP1 next year and no firm commitments - that's commitments in the plural - for 2020, then the ACO and the FIA will have to come up with a plan B. That's bleeding obvious.

The idea that it should just cull LMP1 and make the new breed of super-fast LMP2 machinery the top class should be discounted. Don't forget that it has introduced new rules for the privateer P1 sub-class and promised a period of stability until 2022. It can't just turn around to those working on new projects for next year - Ginetta, BR Engineering, Perrinn and possibly others - and tell them they aren't wanted.

And do we really want something that is approaching a spec formula as the top class? I would say not. The idea of only one engine, the Gibson V8, competing for Le Mans glory would not be in the spirit of the great race.

That inevitably leads to questions about importing the Daytona Prototype international concept from North America. The re-engined and rebodied P2 machines from the IMSA SportsCar Championship might actually provide some kind of stop-gap solution, for Le Mans at least. They could give the race the manufacturer sheen that it requires should Toyota opt not to continue.

A DPi could be equated with a privateer P1, but only if there are no factory hybrid cars present. Don't forget the rules breaks given to the independents for this season were put in place to bring their machines closer to the manufacturer entries.

And there is interest from the DPi ranks. Mazda's North American arm has always had aspirations to bring its now Joest-run prototype programme to the 24 Hours and Cadillac has intimated that it might have similar feelings. Roger Penske, whose team will enter the DPi arena next season with Honda's Acura brand, has talked openly about his desire to go to Le Mans in recent years. But would DPi work for the WEC?

I don't see any of the manufacturers involved in the US wanting to sign up for a full-season WEC assault. They have national programmes funded by national companies. Don't forget that you can't actually buy an Acura anywhere but the USA. The global reach of Le Mans might make it an attractive proposition for US carmakers with DPi machinery, but I doubt that they have any interest racing in China or Bahrain.

DPi or something similar can't be the answer in the long term. Toyota has said that if P1 goes that route, it will stay at home. Porsche's defection to FE for season six in 2019/20 proves that manufacturers need a message if they are to sign off a motorsport programme running into tens of millions of whatever currency.

Le Mans needs to retain its place as an arena in which carmakers can showcase technology. The question is how it and the WEC achieve this in the face of the growing appeal of an electric vehicle series that puts the manufacturers in front of an audience in the heart of the world's major cities.