Portimão included in the 2026 GTWC Europe calendar

on

SRO puts the GT World Challenge Europe in the highest regard considering their portfolio of competitions, since the Blancpain Endurance Series days, calendar stability is always a priority, but it doesn’t keep away the possibility of venue changes, with the 2026 calendar presenting one circuit change in between date changes.
 
Ten weekends are a must for GTWC Europe, five for the Sprint Cup and five for the Endurance Cup, but since the endurance series inception in 2011 and the sprint inception as FIA GT Series in 2013, almost every tradition that was part of the calendar was broken to accommodate it for those on track, starting with the Paul Ricard 1000 opening the season instead of being a closer rehearsal to the 24 Hours of Spa, while Monza got Paul Ricard’s spot, with the Sprint Cup opener at Brands Hatch in between them.
 
Past the 24 Hours of Spa in late June, Misano and Magny-Cours resume the Sprint Cup schedule, followed by an Endurance Cup round at Nürburgring and a Sprint Cup weekend at Zandvoort before moving to the Iberic peninsula. Barcelona is moved to the ninth spot of the calendar in early October as Portimão returns to the series to replace Valencia in mid October after being brought back this year. The Portuguese circuit held Sprint Cup rounds in 2014 and 2015, so it’s more than a decade without visiting the circuit or even Portugal.
 
While a faint hope was given to the Jeddah Corniche Street Circuit, a race in the Saudi venue isn’t returning again to the European calendar, which means that the rumors of a bid for an Intercontinental GT Challenge round might be the way to go.
 
2026 GT World Challenge Europe calendar:
 
Test days:
7-8 April - Paul Ricard
19-20 May - Spa-Francorchamps
 
Regular season:
 
12 April - Paul Ricard 1000
2-3 May - Brands Hatch
31 May - Monza
27-28 June - 24 Hours of Spa (with IGTC)
18-19 July - Misano
1-2 August - Magny-Cours
30 August - Nürburgring
19-20 September - Zandvoort
4 October - Barcelona
17-18 October - Portimão
 
PHOTO: SRO/JEP

Comments

Post a Comment

Do you have an opinion? Feel free to comment.