Focus on stability rather than expansion: The World Endurance Championship calendar will remain largely unchanged for the 2026 season
The World Endurance Championship (WEC) calendar will continue to feature eight races in 2026. This was confirmed by series boss Frederic Lequien in an interview with Autosport. Lequien thus clearly rejected speculation about a short-term expansion of the calendar.
“I’ve said it many times before: we need a stable calendar,” Lequien emphasized. “At least for next year, we will once again have eight races.” This means that the current schedule will remain unchanged, despite earlier ambitions to return to the level of nine races seen between 2015 and 2017 or even expand to ten events.
Originally, a gradual expansion was planned after the pandemic-related reduction to just six races. However, Lequien emphasizes that the focus is currently on continuity and planning security. It can therefore be assumed that the 2026 race series will largely take place on the same tracks and on similar dates as this year.
Silverstone not included again
This means that Silverstone will not be included for the time being. The traditional British circuit, which last hosted the WEC in 2019, had expressed interest in returning.
Back in October 2023, Silverstone CEO Stuart Pringle announced that he was in talks with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) – co-organizer of the WEC alongside the FIA – to make a comeback possible. Instead, Silverstone will host a European Le Mans Series (ELMS) race on September 14, 2024, which will now serve as a gauge of spectator interest.
“I believe there is a strong enthusiasm for endurance racing in the UK and specifically at Silverstone,” said Lequien. A successful ELMS event could therefore pave the way for a return to the WEC calendar in the future.
Since the WEC started in the 2012 season, the calendar originally featured eight races. In 2015, at the urging of Porsche and Audi, the Nürburgring was added to the calendar as the ninth round. With the switch to a winter season in 2018/19, the program was reduced back to eight races. The COVID-19 pandemic ultimately forced the WEC to further reduce the number of races to six.
After two reduced years, the series grew back to seven races in 2023, and eight races are once again on the schedule for 2024 – a format that has now also been set for 2026.
Despite the involvement of Porsche and BMW in the Hypercar class, there are currently no concrete plans for the WEC to return to Germany.
