The debut in Barcelona
The conflict in the Middle East made it necessary for the FIA and ACO to intervene to modify the 2026 WEC calendar. The last two races of the season, initially scheduled in Qatar and Bahrain, were indeed canceled by the world championship, with the final tests taking place first in Barcelona in October, and then in Monza in November. For the ‘Temple of Speed’ it is a return to the WEC, with the last 6 Hours of Monza held in 2023, but for the Catalan track the story will be completely different: here, in the past, WEC world championship races have never been held, although the track was the venue for the 2019-2020 pre-season championship tests. Consequently, the autodrome will add another international category of absolute importance to its curriculum, but which ones already offer spectators great battles for victory on one of the major national and international circuits? And which ones, instead, have ‘said goodbye’ to Catalonia?
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The Spanish Grand Prix
Located in the town of Montmelò, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was inaugurated in 1991 in view of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Already in the year of the ribbon-cutting, the track became the venue for the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, remaining there continuously until this year, albeit with a different race name. Precisely in 2027, the event will not take place due to a biennial alternation agreement reached with Spa-Francorchamps. Consequently, the races will return regularly in 2028, 2030, and 2032, with the track, as in recent years, still remaining an excellent ‘ground’ for winter testing by all teams.
Not just F1
The WEC will therefore arrive for the first time in Barcelona, a track that still today hosts various endurance categories such as the European Le Mans Series. First held in 2008, the 4 Hours of Barcelona has been continuously on the calendar from 2021 to today, just like the 24H Series, although the first full race day took place in 1998. In the last decade, moreover, Montmelò has become the stage for two other championships: the TCR Europe, which with this season has reached four events in Catalonia, and the GT World Challenge Europe, stable with its Gran Turismo cars since 2017. To all these classes, and also here for the first time together with the WEC in 2026, will be added the Ferrari Challenge World Finals. Finally, it is impossible to forget, even if not in the world of four wheels, the Motorcycle World Championship, with Montmelò having reached its 31st edition a few months ago.
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Races of the past
The history of Superbike on this track, however, was decidedly shorter, with five races held between 2000 and 2004. Even here, however, the categories that have left Catalonia have mostly been automotive: the first was the FIA GT championship, which stopped only once, in 2003. Shortly after, and this time with a slightly longer stay (from 2006 to 2009), there was the presence of the famous German DTM championship, followed finally by the Rallycross world championship, which left Catalonia in 2022 after a first edition in 2015.
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