WEC swaps Qatar and Bahrain races for Barcelona, Monza

The FIA World Endurance Championship has canceled its final two rounds in the Middle East and will conclude its 2026 season in Europe due to ongoing security concerns in the Gulf region. The series announced on July 28, 2026, that the planned races in Qatar and Bahrain have been replaced by events in Barcelona and Monza.

The penultimate round will now be the Six Hours of Barcelona at the Circuit de Catalunya on October 18. The season will conclude with the Six Hours of Monza on November 8. Both replacement races will be standard six-hour events, meaning they will award regular championship points. The originally scheduled races in Qatar and Bahrain were to offer 1.5 times the points, a format that has now been scrapped, reducing the total points available in the ongoing title fights. The traditional post-season Rookie Test, usually held in Bahrain, will also not take place this year.

Series officials cited the persistent and unstable security situation stemming from the conflict involving Iran, the United States, and Israel, which began in February 2026. While organizers had initially postponed the Qatar season-opener from March to October in hopes of salvaging the Middle East...