An artsy shot from Interlagos, by yours truly.

It’s all but official at this point: the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship is unlikely to make its usual touchdown in the Middle East.

Qatar had already been moved from being the season opener to the penultimate round of the season, paired up with the usual final act of the year in Bahrain. On top of that, further schedule adjustments had been rumoured on several occasions since the season got officially under way. Sometime the previous week, an article posted on dailysportscar.com essentially confirms what everyone feared – that the final two rounds of the season are set to take place in Europe instead, namely in Barcelona and Monza instead of Sakhir and Lusail. According to the referred article, the decision should be announced on the 23rd of July, following the upcoming FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting.

Except, here’s the clincher: has anyone actually feared this change in plans, or is the removal of the calendar’s two dullest circuits a cause for actual celebration? Most of the reactions I’ve seen on social media and comment sections have not exactly been tearful regarding Qatar and Bahrain’s potential absences.

Sure, perhaps I’ve been somewhat too harsh on the latter as Sakhir has, in reality, a rather enjoyable layout – it is one of the very few real jewels in the crown of the Hermann Tilke School of Circuit Design. Either way, this brought back a certain kind of thought I sometimes waste hours wondering about: what could be the ultimate WEC calendar – or, at least, something that feels “complete” while taking into consideration its usually restricted number of events?

To keep it as realistic as possible, I will not consider temporary circuits (the one we have – you know, that one in France – is more than enough) or extend it beyond the maximum scope of feasibility (over ten rounds, or far-flung places where logistics would be a pain… sorry in advance, Australians). Read on!

Prologue
Qatar | February

Wait, don’t throw tomatoes and vegetables at me, let me explain why this is here first. I know, I know, Lusail is probably the most disliked circuit on the current calendar, but it’s here as the host of the Prologue for a reason.

Three factors have influenced it: the proximity to the first round (see below), the fact I am not the biggest fan of doing official testing on a place that is on the current calendar, and Lusail’s silky smooth racing surface. On paper (or on the screen where you’re reading this), it sounds like a good deal.

1. 6 Hours of Bahrain
Bahrain | March

It wouldn’t be an actual FIA World Championship these days without a proper stop in the Middle East, would it?

Love it or hate it, we would end up with at least one desert round anyway, so best to get it out of the way to start things off. Out of all appropriate places, Bahrain is the most fitting in my opinion, as I said before. The layout works well and is enough of a challenge for teams and drivers alike. Except it does not warrant an extended race duration, so back to the standard six-hour length it goes.

2. 6 Hours of Mugello
Italy | April

Monza already has the Italian Grand Prix. Not to mention an awkward first chicane, conducive to lap one chaos moments (or late-race chaos moments, such as in this year’s GT World Challenge Europe round). Imola repeatedly receives complaints of being a “boring” race year in, year out, and also hosts the European Le Mans Series already.

Therefore I present to you the suggestion to keep the WEC in Italy: Mugello. We’ll ignore the fact Ferrari owns it (hey, Toyota owns Fuji, don’t they?) and look at the facts – a nice and flowing layout, full of elevation changes not unlike those seen at Portimão (strong candidate to be in this calendar, sadly left out), and apparently better passing opportunities to boot.

As a backup plan, we could just let Mugello and Imola alternate every year. Italy has a large enough motorsports following that it would likely not harm either side.

3. 6 Hours of Silverstone
United Kingdom | April

What would the WEC calendar be without Silverstone in it? The end of a long absence for 2027 and beyond – with long-term growth plans – must mean at least part of the world is righting itself again, right? Right?!

Home to plenty of interesting on-track battles during its first stint in the series’s calendar, it’s one of those places where one asks themselves, “why was it binned off in the first place?” Long may the RAC Tourist Trophy be presented to the winners!

4. 8 Hours of Spa
Belgium | May

Your eyes do not deceive you. We’ve taken Eduardo Freitas’s 2024 “suggestion” and made it official, lengthening the traditional Le Mans dress rehearsal by two hours. It’s been kept in its usual early-to-mid May slot, a month or so prior to the French endurance classic.

Given the cracking races we usually see at Spa-Francorchamps, this move feels just right. Come on, just extend it – there’ll be enough daylight at the end, we promise. 

“Two more hours, we’re just getting started…”

5. 24 Hours of Le Mans
France | June (duh!)

“Don’t fix what ain’t broken,” goes the age-old saying. Barring pandemics and energy crises, when else would the Grand Prix d’Endurance take place if not in the middle of June?

The twice-around-the-clock contest marks the halfway point of the season in this scenario, something all the more fitting to the special way my brain functions.

6. 6 Hours of São Paulo
Brazil | July

Continuing the “don’t fix” theme, Interlagos comes next on the calendar, in its now traditional July date. Let’s ignore the potential for it falling exactly on my birthday weekend (as was the case this year) as a strong argument to keep it in this part of the season. When you think about things, it just makes sense. I’m not being selfish here at all. Believe me.

Ideally, I would’ve pulled a fast one on Qatar by lengthening this round to ten hours and renaming it the “1822 km of Brazil”, referring to our year of independence… But let’s keep it at a nice and cosy standard duration for now.

7. Lone Star Le Mans
United States | September

After the summer break, we return to another staple in the WEC calendar, for the 6 Hours of COTA Lone Star Le Mans. More races should channel the 1980s heyday of the World Sportscar Championship and have personality-filled names other than “X Hours of Insert Place Here”, don’t you think?

The scene of many an interesting race, from the 2014 downpour to the 2017 Porsche-Toyota battles to 2025’s wet-to-dry masterpiece, COTA has established itself as a stable home for the WEC in North America. IMSA currently not racing there is a good reason to keep it in the calendar as well – I like to avoid overlapping as much as possible.

8. 6 Hours of Fuji
Japan | September

Another staple of the WEC calendar, Fuji is kept in its usual late September slot for this one, as the first of a two-round East Asian “swing”.

Fun fact, I used to be extremely reluctant to admit this is a layout conducive to good racing, until finally watching the 2025 edition of this event – easily one of, if not the best of the 2025 season as a whole. It’s a keeper in my books.

9. 6 Hours of Shanghai
China | October

The second part of the Asian swing, Shanghai returns to the calendar, bridging the gap between the September activities and the early November finale. We’ve already had a summer break, no need for an autumn one as well.

Admittedly, this part of the calendar felt somewhat awkward, given I knew how I wanted the season to start and what I wanted the finale to be. Given all the talk about a Chinese brand or two wanting to join the Hypercar ranks – potentially as soon as next year, given the reported Signatech-Geely talks – I figured this could be an interesting commercial move.

The alternative would’ve been reviving the 6 Hours of Mexico City, placing it in the late September calendar slot, and making Fuji the October round instead.

10. 1000 Miles of Sebring
United States | November

If you know me well, then this does not really come as a real surprise. Ignore the fact we’re having two races in the same country – Sakhir and Lusail are geographically closer to one another than Sebring and COTA, so don’t give me that look.

Run on three occasions between 2019 and 2023, the 1000 Miles had all it took to become a classic on the calendar, prior to getting tossed aside by the characterless nature of Lusail to open the year. Besides getting moved to the end of the season, this iteration of the race would see it lengthened to a ten-hour time limit, therefore adding up to a grand total of 84 hours of racing across the entire season.

With its challenging, uneven surface and known to be a “car killer”, Sebring is a must-have on the WEC’s calendar – let us not forget that the series’s first ever race was held there, with its infamous jumbled official results.

If you made it all the way down here, congratulations! Don’t forget to tell us what you’d change about this or how you’d do your own calendar – or just how pissed off this made you. Should the latter be the case, worry not… I’ll be back next month with another uncomfortable subject for you 😉