***This weekend’s 6 Hours of Barcelona will be contested by the usual full-season FIA World Endurance Championship grid of 35 cars. The only major driver lineup changes compared to last month’s Fuji round are Alex Quinn making his Hypercar debut for Peugeot, replacing Stoffel Vandoorne in the No. 93 car, and Alex Lynn making his first appearance of the year in the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entry.
***Lynn contested the European Le Mans Series’ 4 Hours of Portimao season finale last weekend with Algarve Pro Racing, marking his first race outing since he had surgery on a long-standing neck injury, finishing sixth alongside Jake Hughes and Mathias Kaiser.
***Despite the clash with the Portimao round of the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup that impacts a handful of drivers, there are no changes to the LMGT3 lineup for this race. Click here to view the latest entry list.
***The list of drivers attempting double duty across Barcelona and Portimao this weekend, made easier by the changes made to the WEC timetable on Saturday, is down to only four: Thomas Fleming, Benjamin Goethe (both Garage 59), Mattia Drudi (Heart of Racing Team) and Darren Leung (Team WRT).
***Two others initially planned to contest both races, Peter Dempsey (TF Sport) and Rui Andrade (Iron Lynx), but will now only be racing at Barcelona.
***Six Hours of Fuji winner Leung, who will race for his own Paradine Competition outfit in Portimao, is relying on his previous experience of hopping between cars in the Michelin 24H Dubai in 2025, albeit faces the challenge of switching between Pirelli and Goodyear rubber this time as well as the obvious logistical challenges.
***Leung said: “I know that I have what I need in terms of working method to be able to do what I need to do in both. I know I’ve got enough of an engine to be able to do both. The biggest challenge is hoping that the airport slots remain as they should do. Doing both will potentially even help me a little bit, because just having time in the car just gets you a little bit sharper and a little more dialed in. I’m sure that will be a net benefit.”
***Michelin has nominated the Soft and Medium compound tires this weekend, despite expectations of Barcelona being one of the toughest tracks on tires all year.
***Michelin Motorsport endurance programs manager Pierre Alves commented: “Average speeds here should be comparable to those at Sao Paulo or Bahrain. However, the tires will be subjected to extremely high loads, with lateral acceleration exceeding 2G for approximately one-third of the lap. Three particularly heavy braking zones, approaching Turns 1, 5 and 10, add to these demands. As a result, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has the highest tire energy density of any track on this season’s calendar.”
***Alves added: “The left-side tires will be subjected to greater loads than those on the right. We could therefore see teams double stinting their right-side tires while replacing the left-side tires after a single stint. These strategies will also depend on weather conditions and track temperatures.”
***LMGT3 supplier Goodyear, meanwhile, is using its Eagle Medium tire that has been seen in all WEC races so far this year, despite the now-retired Eagle Hard being used for the ELMS opener at Barcelona in April. However, the Eagle Medium has been used before at Barcelona in the ELMS in 2024 and ’25.
***Additionally, Michelin is introducing a new specification of wet tire for the Barcelona round that features 57 percent sustainable content, up from 45 percent of the previous tires. The new spec is expected to provide “improved wet grip, greater longevity, and increased resistance to blistering” per the Clermont-Ferrand firm’s pre-event preview.
***The new wet tire could well be used extensively in the race, as current weather forecasts suggest that rain is likely to fall for most of Sunday.
***Toyota Racing technical director David Floury revealed it has done no testing on the new wet tire, having instead sampled an alternative prototype that was not used during group running. “We were part of the development session, but there are many specs and not every manufacturers run the same, so we don’t have any running on this spec,” Floury told reporters. “It’s not very comfortable to go straight into a race weekend with a new tire spec, but it’s something we have to deal with.”
***Both Aston Martin’s Alex Riberas and Cadillac’s Earl Bamber confirmed that their respective manufacturers likewise have had no experience on the new wet tire, with Bamber telling Sportscar365: “It’s going to throw quite a random thing into the field. But, at the end of the day, it’s the same for everyone. I don’t even know what they look like, I’m just going to put them on and see if they’ve got grip.”
***Floury also reacted to the news that Ryo Hirakawa will not be a Haas Formula 1 driver next year, confirmed on Thursday, which impacts the brand’s WEC driver plans and means Esteban Masson is likely to miss out on a race seat, at least for 2027.
***The Frenchman said: “It’s too early to talk about our driver lineup for next year, but Esteban is part of the family as well, and he is part of our future. To tell you whether [a promotion to a race seat] will happen next year or the year after, it’s still too early. For sure he is still young. But when we set a road map when he joined us in 2024 and he has delivered in every aspect, so I think he is ready now.”
***Peugeot completed the latest test of its updated 9X8 Evo machine at Silverstone last week. Although the test was punctuated by typically wet autumnal British weather, team principal Emmanuel Esnault said it was still useful. “When you have a new package, any kilometer covered on the race track, you always learn something,” he said. “It’s never lost as an opportunity to get some knowledge.”
***The French manufacturer’s final planned test of the year will then follow at Paul Ricard in December, with Esnault describing the program as “going well”, but cautioned “there’s a lot to do.”
***On Wednesday it was announced that Visit Qatar has been made naming rights sponsor for the 6 Hours of Barcelona, in recognition of the fact this weekend’s race replaces the Qatar 1812km that was initially supposed to be the season opener before being delayed, and then ultimately cancelled, amid regional instability in the Middle East.
***Visit Qatar CEO Abdulaziz Ali Al-Mawlawi commented: “Our partnership with the FIA World Endurance Championship as Presenting Partner of the 6 Hours of Barcelona reflects Qatar’s continued commitment to supporting world-class sporting events and strengthening its presence on the international motorsport stage. We look forward to an exciting race weekend in Barcelona and to welcoming the FIA WEC community back to Qatar in 2027 for another exceptional season opener at Lusail International Circuit.”
***A charity run is to be held at Barcelona on Saturday evening in support of the Pau Costa Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 2011 that seeks to promote the understanding and management of wildfires and to foster wildfire prevention, after Barcelona’s Gavarres region was hit by wildfires this summer.
***WEC track action commences on Friday with Free Practice 1 at 11:30 a.m. local time (5:30 a.m. EST), with Free Practice 2 following at 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. EST).
Stephen Lickorish contributed to this report
