Preview: inaugural FIA WEC 6 Hours of Barcelona

Text & Images: Rick Kiewiet, race poster: FIA WEC

Following the turmoil in the Middle East, the FIA World Endurance Championship makes its first visit to Spain this weekend, with the 6 Hours of Barcelona on Sunday 18 October. It is the penultimate round of the 2026 season, and both titles are still undecided. Chances are it's going to be a wet one...

Hypercar: a tight top four

Just 20 points separate the leading four Hypercar crews. Toyota and BMW have taken most of the wins so far, and Ferrari, the reigning champion, cannot be written off. Toyota arrives in good form after Fuji, where the #8 car lifted itself from sixth to the win. A late safety car allowed it to take on just 72 percent fuel and skip a tyre change, and Ryo Hirakawa then held off Alpine’s Victor Martins by 0.591 seconds.

The result put Hirakawa, Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley top of the standings. The #15 BMW used the same fuel-only gamble to finish third, while the #35 and #36 Alpines, which led much of the race, missed out after taking the safer tyre option. Elsewhere in the title fight, the #20 WRT BMW finished 13th and the #50 Ferrari retired.

Several drivers have local ties. Miguel Molina (Ferrari) comes from nearby Girona, while Aston Martin’s Alex Riberas and Genesis’ Daniel Juncadella were both born in Barcelona.

Driver news

Peugeot has a new face in the #93 9X8. Alex Quinn replaces Stoffel Vandoorne, who left the team after Fuji, and will race alongside Nick Cassidy and Paul Di Resta in Barcelona and at Monza. The 25-year-old IMSA LMP2 champion was already due to move up from his test and development role for 2027, and his debut has now been brought forward. Peugeot’s #94 car took sixth at Fuji, the marque’s best result in a difficult year and its third points finish in four races.

Alex Lynn also returns to Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA. He missed most of the season after neck surgery, so this is his first race of 2026.

Mike Conway has announced he will retire from full-time racing at the end of the season. The #7 Toyota driver, who is 43, won Le Mans for the second time in June. He has two world titles and 20 WEC wins with Toyota. He and his team-mates Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries sit ten points off the lead. They would likely be leading the standings had a hydraulic problem not hit the car while it was running near the front at COTA. Conway’s final race for Toyota will be at Monza in November, not Barcelona.

LMGT3: Corvette ahead, chasers closing

The #33 TF Sport Corvette of Nicky Catsburg and Jonny Edgar leads the class by 24 points over the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin. The Aston Martin recovered from eighth at the restart to second at Fuji. WRT’s #32 BMW took the Fuji win through Augusto Farfus, who passed his way to the front in the final minutes. It was the team’s second victory of the season after Imola. Aston Martin, Porsche and Ferrari are all looking to cut into the Corvette’s lead before time runs out.

Weather

The weather could add a significant variable to the race outcome. Two weekends ago, the GT World Challenge programme at Catalunya was already heavily altered due to rain showers. AEMET’s forecast for Montmeló, the circuit’s host municipality, currently shows rain on both weekend days. Saturday is very cloudy with showers (100 percent probability), temperatures of 15 to 24°C and a light south-easterly wind. Sunday is overcast with showers (95 percent), a cooler 11 to 17°C and no wind to speak of. The forecast is model-generated and may change before the weekend.