The WEC is booming following an overhaul in regulations, with no fewer than nineteen Hypercar entered in 2024, representing nine different manufacturers. Never have so many OEMs been involved in WEC's top class since the inception of the series.
While this development is generally heralded as the advent of a golden era, Laudenbach warns that there's no guarantee those constructors will maintain their commitment for the long haul.
At the same time, privateer entrants Glickenhaus and Vanwall have dropped off the grid this year, with the latter's entry turned down by the organisers.
Laudenbach fears that if big manufacturers were to leave there might be too few privateers to save the day, as the likes of Alpine, Glickenhaus and Rebellion did when Toyota was the only OEM still involved in WEC's top class following Audi and Porsche's defection from the series in the late 2010s.
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Porsche now supplies two 963s to Jota and another one to Proton Competition, but no other constructor has come up with a proper customer car programme, "which is a shame" according to Laudenbach. Ferrari's third 499P, with no official involvement from the Prancing Horse, is still run by the same AF Corse squad.
"I think it's a bit sad that none of the others did customer cars," he added.
"If you look at the line-ups, probably you can argue we don't need customer cars. We've got enough factories.
"I'm long enough in the business. For me, it's hard to imagine that for over whatever, ten years, we will have that many manufacturers in the championship.
"I don't know if somebody remembers a decade of that many [manufacturers]. I can't.
Source: Autosport