Today’s confirmation that Porsche is to park its all-conquering LMP1 programme at the end of the current FIA WEC season has seen a tsunami of gloom engulf the endurance racing world.

In many ways, this is correctly so. Porsche’s LMP1 programme is hugely significant and its early demise throws doubt on a number of aspects of the sport, and in particular the WEC.

It’s galling once again that, in no small part, historic poor decision making from the road car side of VAG has played a part in the decisions currently being made, the ripples of ‘Dieselgate’ will continue to play a spoiling part for many years to come. Porsche itself is now embroiled directly after its first emissions-related recall announced yesterday.

Porsche’s programme is hugely significant and its early demise throws doubt on a number of aspects of the sport

That crisis, in technical, financial and reputational terms has in turn provided a very substantial boost to the drive for electrification of the road car fleet. Major industry names, badly damaged by the revelations of ‘cheat’ devices, and the continuing rumour mill surrounding others that have behaved identically, are now sprinting for cover and looking for ways in which to re-invent their technical reputations.

Formula E is an obvious bolt hole at present, the only all-electric global motorsport property, relatively accessible in financial terms and on a planned escalation programme to technical diversity that the current product does not display.

We can scoff at the current two cars per driver per race, Fan Boost gimmickry, but the reality is that this is proving to be the right product at the right time for a shell-shocked automotive industry; for now at least!

The challenge now is to respond, to respond quickly, pragmatically and intelligently.

There’s little doubt that electrification, or indeed other alternative ‘clean’ tech is the route forward, and there’s little doubt too that every global motorsport product is going to have to adapt to survive.

The challenge now is to respond, to respond quickly, pragmatically and intelligently

The issues at present are:

How quickly can that happen and what do we do right now?

We’ll be answering both of those questions on DSC today.