Over the course of just a few days, 2019 has become a pivotal year for motorsports.



On Monday, Mercedes announced that it would be entering the Formula E in 2019. But that entry in Formula E necessitated cuts in other parts of its motorsports portfolio, so the manufacturer will be exiting DTM after the 2018 season, a championship it has been running in since 1987. And it leaves the series in a state of flux, with Audi and BMW reconsidering their involvement now that Mercedes will be gone.

But that's not all.

Yesterday, our Marshall Pruett reported that Porsche was about to announce a withdrawal from the WEC's LMP1-H class at the end of 2017 and an entry in to Formula E for the 2019 season. Now, Porsche has confirmed that report in a press release:

Beginning in 2019, Porsche will compete with a factory team in the Formula E Championship. As a result, the company will with great regret end its involvement in the LMP1 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the end of the 2017 season. At the same time, Porsche will continue to focus its attention on international GT racing, campaigning the 911 RSR in the GT class of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The LMP1-H exit isn't all that surprising. The class had already lost Audi and Nissan in the last two years. With three wins at Le Mans in a row, it was assumed that if Porsche didn't leave now, it would leave at the end of 2018. That means Toyota is currently the only confirmed LMP1-H manufacturer for the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team is coming off a string of heartbreaking losses at the classic event and have promised to fight for the win next year, but will they want to run and win in a class of one? Seems like it'd be a hollow victory for a proud manufacturer.

Formula E is where all manufacturer support seems to be heading right now, with teams from BMW, Audi, Jaguar, Faraday Future, and Nio already on the grid and Mercedes and Porsche joining in the near future. The new cars for the 2018/2019 season promise to have more power and better battery life, which is a must for the series to gain relevancy and an audience.

It's not all bad news for traditional Porsche fans, as the company has promised to continue campaigning the 911 RSR and invest more in its development so it can win. As many will agree that GTE is the best class on the grid in WEC and at Le Mans, having quicker 911 RSRs on track will be a good thing for everyone.



Now we'll just have to wait and see what effect these announcements will have for the future of DTM and LMP1-H.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io