Here is the thing about racing logistics: sometimes calendars collide in the most brutal ways. As Motorsport.com Italia reports, the FIA World Endurance Championship has confirmed a revised format for the upcoming 6h de Barcellona, scheduled for October 16-18, 2026 as the penultimate round of the season. Saturday, October 17 has been completely restructured to split track activities between LMGT3 and Hypercar. This clever adjustment gives much-needed breathing room to competitors who also have to tackle the GT World Challenge Europe-Endurance Cup 3-hour race at Portimao on Saturday evening.
The weekend kicks off Friday with a 90-minute Free Practice 1 session starting at 11:30, followed by Free Practice 2 at 16:30. But Saturday is where the schedule gets interesting. LMGT3 machines take over the circuit first thing at 8:50 for a 60-minute Free Practice 3 session, before moving straight into their qualifying and hyperpole battles starting at 11:50. Hypercar machinery then hits the track for their own Free Practice 3 at 12:40, paving the way for their own qualifying and hyperpole sessions at 15:40.
Everything culminates on Sunday with the 6-hour main event, which roars to life at 12:00 around the 4.657km Circuit de Catalunya.
Aside from the timetable acrobatics, the entry list brings some massive news. Alex Lynn is finally stepping back into the cockpit of the #12 Cadillac-Jota. It has been a long road back for him after missing every race earlier this year due to an injury and subsequent surgery that sidelined him all the way back in April.
Over at Peugeot, however, a question mark remains hanging over the #93 car. Following the confirmed departure of Stoffel Vandoorne, the manufacturer still has to lock in a third driver to share duties with regular racers Paul Di Resta and Nick Cassidy.
Alpine is keeping things steady by rolling out the exact same line-ups seen at Fuji. The #35 A424 features the pairing of Milesi and Habsburg, while the #36 car fields Martins and Gounon. This effectively confirms that Frédéric Makowiecki and Antonio Félix Da Costa are sitting out again, despite team principal Philippe Sinault previously insisting the door wasn't completely shut for the Frenchman and the Portuguese driver before the season wraps up.
