World Endurance Championship announces 2026 schedule
The FIA World Endurance Championship has announced its 2026 schedule, which will be made up of the same venues as in 2025.
Capitalizing on the momentum of 750,000 fans that attended events in these eight rounds, there was little reason to alter the schedule, which will begin with Round 1 in Qatar, March 26 - 28, 2026.
The 2026 calendar comprises five regions: Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and the Middle East.
'We are pleased to present our 2026 FIA WEC calendar, which reflects the series' success by building upon a winning formula and format,' said Frédéric Lequien, CEO, FIA World Endurance Championship in a news release. 'All eight events have established themselves as firm favourites amongst competitors and fans. Every circuit offers its own unique characteristics and challenges – and invariably brings out the best from our incredible drivers, cars and teams. We look forward to continuing to put on a thrilling show all around the world!
The highlight of the schedule will continue to be the 24 Hours of Le Mans, June 10 - 14.
Four six-hour races will be held at Imola (April 17 - 19), Spa-Francorchamps (May 7 - 9), Sao Paulo (July 10 - 12), and Mount Fuji, Japan (September 25 - 27).
The Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, returns to the schedule on September 4 - 6 for the Lone Star Le Mans.
WEC will conclude their season with an eight-hour race in Bahrain, November 5 - 7.
'After a period of expansion, including the addition of an eighth round in 2024, the FIA World Endurance Championship enters a phase of consolidation and stability with next season's calendar,' said Richard Mille, President, FIA Endurance Commission. 'The schedule continues to feature world-class circuits across key regions, striking the right balance between global exposure for manufacturers and the need to keep participation costs at a reasonable level. This stability lays a strong foundation for the continued success of the Hypercar class and supports the sustained growth of the world's premier endurance racing series.'
2026 WEC Schedule
March 26 - 28: Qatar 1812 Kilometers (1,126 miles)
April 17 - 19: 6 Hours of Imola
May 7 - 9: 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
June 10 - 14: 24 Hours of Le Mans
July 10 - 12: 6 Hours of Sao Paulo
September 4 - 6: Lone Star Le Mans
September 25 - 27: 6 Hours of Fuji
November 5 - 7: 8 Hours of Bahrain
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Miami Herald
Ferrari Stock is as Pricey as Its Cars. Have Investors Lost Their Minds?
Close your eyes and pretend that I can give you any car you want. If I could just give you any car in the world, right now, what would you ask for? Was the first car to pop into your head something from Maranello? A Ferrari, perhaps? It probably was for many of you. After all, it's one of the most important and well-known luxury brands in the world. Sadly, while most of us can't afford to own a Ferrari, there is a piece of Ferrari that all of us can buy. And that's ownership in Ferrari itself. That's right, we can buy the stock! Ferrari has been a publicly traded company since late 2015. During that time, its shares have increased from a low of $29.27 to a recent high of more than $500. I'll admit to having watched the stock for years but have never pulled the trigger to buy it. I'd be driving a Ferrari if I had. The thing is, at $460, Ferrari stock trades like a luxury good, with a price-to-earnings multiple of more than 45! For the past 12 months, the company earned $8.81 a share. That means that when you buy a share of Ferrari today, you're paying more than 45 times one year's earnings for that share. To say it another way, if the company were to buy the shares back from you, it would take them 45 years to earn enough money to do so. You could buy other car companies for much less. Mercedes trades at just 5.5 times its prior 12-month earnings. GM trades at 7 times and Ford at just 8.35 times. Of course, those are relatively inexpensive compared with Tesla, whose shares trade for a whopping 174 times its trailing 12 months' earnings. Here's a table that I pulled from Schwab to showcase this difference: Compared with the other car companies, investors definitely see something in Ferrari. They love the stock! The Question of the Week, then, is why would investors want to buy Ferrari shares when it has such a high price-to-earnings ratio? Are Ferrari shares a luxury good? On June 15th, Ferrari won the most prestigious and challenging 24-hour endurance racing event: the 24 Hours of LeMans. That's a big deal for a couple of reasons. First, it's one of those great stories of triumph over adversity that we all love. Ferrari dominated sports car racing from its founding in 1947 through 1965. Led by Enzo Ferrari, the company won Le Mans six years in a row, from 1960 through 1965. Then Ford came on the scene. If you've seen Ford vs. Ferrari, you know that Ford won in 1966; in fact, Dearborn took home all the trophies through the 1960s. Then Porsche dominated. Since Ford knocked Ferrari off its endurance racing pedestal in 1966, the Maranello, Italy, company didn't win at Le Mans again until two years ago. And then it won again last year. And this year. They're back! Adding to the drama, one of the drivers, Robert Kubica, had been tapped to drive a Ferrari in F1 competition back in 2012, but suffered a devastating crash that derailed his career at the top level of motorsports. Kubica worked his way back, transitioning to endurance cars, which perform like F1 cars but are designed to race for up to 24 hours at a time. In 2024, Ferrari tapped Kubica to join its endurance racing team. His car failed to finish in that race but was victorious this past weekend. These two comeback stories not only showcase how hard it is to succeed in motorsports but also how sweet the victory is. So, is Ferrari's stock as sweet as Ferrari's motorsports victory at Le Mans this year? Here's the thing about Ferrari. It's not just a car company. It's a lifestyle brand. Sure, the core of its business is selling cars, but its cars are not transportation. So, Ferrari should not trade like a regular car company. You could say the same about Tesla, which trades on car sales but also on the reputation of CEO Elon Musk and assumptions about the electric-vehicle company's growth in AI and robotics. Surely, however, Ferrari should trade like a regular stock? The S&P 500 has a PE of approximately 28, which is relatively high historically. Even Alphabet has a PE below 20. And Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has a PE below 13! So why would Ferrari trade for such a high price relative to its earnings? Well, Ferrari has three qualities that separate it from the competition: a wide moat, strong margins, and leading growth. When Morningstar analysts evaluate a company, they look to see whether the company has a competitive advantage over its peers. They call this a moat, and companies like Ferrari are said to have wide moats because they have strong brand recognition, high pricing power, and strong customer loyalty. Racing is a part of that moat, and when Ferrari wins, its customer loyalty increases. In fact, racing is literally part of Ferrari's marketing plan. As the old saying goes, win on Sunday, sell on Monday. Ferrari, with its high pricing power and multiyear customer waiting lists, is able to charge premium prices for its products. The profit that the company makes on each car is higher than that of other car companies, including premium manufacturers like Porsche. Ferrari has shown consistently stable earnings growth of around 18% annually over the past five years, according to data shown on my Schwab research portal. Analysts expect that to continue for the next five years, too. Even Tesla isn't expected to grow that quickly. So here's the thing. Ferrari does deserve to trade with a much higher valuation than other car companies. Its wide moat means that other companies can't easily compete for Ferrari's customers, the company's customer loyalty means that Ferrari can charge a higher price for its cars and be more profitable, and those customers have money to spend and have enabled Ferrari to grow at a pace that's nearly as fast as its race cars. You can see this in the price/earnings growth multiple (aka PEG) in the table above. Ferrari trades with a PEG multiple of a little over 4. This multiple takes the PE and divides it by growth. By comparison, Tesla has a PEG of more than 7. Ferrari is a much better value than Tesla. I like this multiple because it tells a better story than just the PE. It allows growth companies to have a higher PE because they deserve it - well, they deserve it if they can continue to grow. Does this mean you should buy Ferrari shares? You'll have to do your own research. I said that the company deserves to trade at a higher valuation than other car companies, but it's still anything but cheap. This article was reprinted from a series on our sister publication, TheStreet, called Filthy Rich Animal. Filthy Rich Animal is a weekly newsletter that provides jargon-free insights to help new investors become... well, filthy rich animals! It's free to subscribe, and we hope you like it. If you'd like content sent directly to your email inbox, subscribe here. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
3 days ago
NASCAR teams fear 'catastrophic' impact of disclosing financial records during court fight
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Attorneys for 12 of NASCAR's 15 race teams argued in federal court Tuesday that disclosing their financial records to the stock car series would be 'catastrophic' to competitive balance and warned that making such details public would put them all in danger. The hearing was over a discovery dispute between NASCAR and the teams that are not parties in the ongoing antitrust suit filed by 23XI Racing, which is owned by retired NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by entrepreneur Bob Jenkins. 23XI and Front Row are the only two organizations out of the 15 that refused last September to sign take-it-or-leave offers on a new charter agreement. Charters are NASCAR's version of a franchise model, with each charter guaranteeing entry to the lucrative Cup Series races and a stable revenue stream. Of the 13 teams that signed, only Kaulig Racing has submitted the financial documents NASCAR subpoenaed as part of discovery. The other 12 organizations are fighting against releasing the information to NASCAR and even argued that NASCAR asking for them violates the charter agreement, which claims all disputes must go to arbitration. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell of the Western District of North Carolina promised a quick ruling but, just like last week, seemed exasperated at the lengths being taken in this brawl that for now is heading toward a December trial. 'I am amazed at the effort going into burning this house down over everybody's heads,' Bell said at the end of the nearly two-hour hearing. 'But I'm the fire marshal and I will be here in December if need be.' Attorneys for the teams say their financial records are private and there is no guarantee the information won't be leaked; in a hearing last week, information learned in discovery was disclosed in open court. 'It would be absolutely devastating to these race teams if their competitors were able to find out sponsorships on the cars, driver salaries and all revenue streams,' attorney Adam Ross said. 'It cannot make its way into the public realm.' Ross said NASCAR has asked for 11 years of records and communications — including what Hendrick Motorsports spent on both its Garage 56 project building a car to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the cost of Kyle Larson running both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 the last two seasons. 'NASCAR has gone a step too far,' Ross said. NASCAR argued it needs the financials to understand profit margins and whether teams are actually unable to make ends meet under the charter agreement. NASCAR vowed to redact details to conceal team identities, a suggestion that was met with skepticism from team attorneys who contended it would be easy to connect the dots and, for example, figure out which contracts belong to, say, Team Penske. Attorneys also argued that money is not often distributed equally across the board with each team. For example, Team Penske might use an engineer for a NASCAR team, an IndyCar team and a sports car team. Bell asked NASCAR why it would not be satisfied with just 'topline' numbers. 'Why is not enough to know it costs X to run a car?' Bell asked. Attorneys for the 12 teams also noted that their clients are extremely uncomfortable to be dragged into the suit. 'This is the opposite of what they want — all the teams are torn to pieces that NASCAR wants them to disclose this information and they don't want to upset NASCAR,' Ross said. Teams have long argued that NASCAR is not financially viable and they needed multiple concessions, including a greater revenue stream and a more permanent length on the charter agreements. Those presently have expiration dates and can be revoked by NASCAR. Two years of negotiations ended last fall with 13 teams signing on but 23IX and FRM instead heading to court. The hearing came one day after Bell declined to dismiss the teams' request to toss out NASCAR's countersuit, which accuses Jordan business manager Curtis Polk of using 'cartel'-type tactics in the most recent round of charter negotiations.
San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
NASCAR teams fear 'catastrophic' impact of disclosing financial records during court fight
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Attorneys for 12 of NASCAR's 15 race teams argued in federal court Tuesday that disclosing their financial records to the stock car series would be 'catastrophic' to competitive balance and warned that making such details public would put them all in danger. The hearing was over a discovery dispute between NASCAR and the teams that are not parties in the ongoing antitrust suit filed by 23XI Racing, which is owned by retired NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by entrepreneur Bob Jenkins. 23XI and Front Row are the only two organizations out of the 15 that refused last September to sign take-it-or-leave offers on a new charter agreement. Charters are NASCAR's version of a franchise model, with each charter guaranteeing entry to the lucrative Cup Series races and a stable revenue stream. Of the 13 teams that signed, only Kaulig Racing has submitted the financial documents NASCAR subpoenaed as part of discovery. The other 12 organizations are fighting against releasing the information to NASCAR and even argued that NASCAR asking for them violates the charter agreement, which claims all disputes must go to arbitration. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell of the Western District of North Carolina promised a quick ruling but, just like last week, seemed exasperated at the lengths being taken in this brawl that for now is heading toward a December trial. 'I am amazed at the effort going into burning this house down over everybody's heads,' Bell said at the end of the nearly two-hour hearing. 'But I'm the fire marshal and I will be here in December if need be.' Attorneys for the teams say their financial records are private and there is no guarantee the information won't be leaked; in a hearing last week, information learned in discovery was disclosed in open court. 'It would be absolutely devastating to these race teams if their competitors were able to find out sponsorships on the cars, driver salaries and all revenue streams,' attorney Adam Ross said. 'It cannot make its way into the public realm.' Ross said NASCAR has asked for 11 years of records and communications — including what Hendrick Motorsports spent on both its Garage 56 project building a car to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the cost of Kyle Larson running both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 the last two seasons. 'NASCAR has gone a step too far,' Ross said. NASCAR argued it needs the financials to understand profit margins and whether teams are actually unable to make ends meet under the charter agreement. NASCAR vowed to redact details to conceal team identities, a suggestion that was met with skepticism from team attorneys who contended it would be easy to connect the dots and, for example, figure out which contracts belong to, say, Team Penske. Attorneys also argued that money is not often distributed equally across the board with each team. For example, Team Penske might use an engineer for a NASCAR team, an IndyCar team and a sports car team. Bell asked NASCAR why it would not be satisfied with just 'topline' numbers. 'Why is not enough to know it costs X to run a car?' Bell asked. Attorneys for the 12 teams also noted that their clients are extremely uncomfortable to be dragged into the suit. 'This is the opposite of what they want — all the teams are torn to pieces that NASCAR wants them to disclose this information and they don't want to upset NASCAR,' Ross said. Teams have long argued that NASCAR is not financially viable and they needed multiple concessions, including a greater revenue stream and a more permanent length on the charter agreements. Those presently have expiration dates and can be revoked by NASCAR. Two years of negotiations ended last fall with 13 teams signing on but 23IX and FRM instead heading to court. The hearing came one day after Bell declined to dismiss the teams' request to toss out NASCAR's countersuit, which accuses Jordan business manager Curtis Polk of using 'cartel'-type tactics in the most recent round of charter negotiations.
