Team Peugeot TotalEnergies heads to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the first FIA World Endurance Championship race ever held in Spain, from 16 to 18 October. British driver Alex Quinn will make his race debut in the PEUGEOT 9X8 #93, taking Stoffel Vandoorne’s seat. The #94 crew arrives after a sixth-place finish at Fuji.

The FIA World Endurance Championship goes to Spain for the first time this week. A change to the calendar means the 2026 season now ends with two European races in a row. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hosts the series from 16 to 18 October, and the finale follows at Monza, where the PEUGEOT 9X8 first raced in 2022.

A new circuit for the Hypercar field

The Spanish track opened in 1991 and has long been a reference circuit for teams in many series. It is new ground for the WEC, though. The lap measures 4.657 km (2.894 miles) and includes a straight more than one kilometre (0.6 miles) long. Several long, high-load corners put heavy stress on the tyres.

Peugeot expects strategy and track position to be among the deciding factors in the six-hour race, drawing on what other categories have learned at the venue. The team has tested at Barcelona, and according to Team Principal Emmanuel Esnault most of its drivers have raced there in other championships.

The round also matters commercially. Peugeot calls Spain a key market for the brand, and PEUGEOT Spain will run communications activities and host guests during the event.

Quinn steps up in the #93

The seventh round of the season brings Alex Quinn’s first competitive start in the top class of endurance racing. The 25-year-old Briton became the team’s Test and Development Driver in 2026 after impressing at the 2025 Rookie Test and in later testing. Peugeot has recently confirmed him as a race driver from the 2027 season.

In Barcelona he replaces Stoffel Vandoorne in the #93, sharing the car with Nick Cassidy and Paul Di Resta. He stays in the car for the Monza finale on 6–8 November.

“I’m really excited to get on track at Barcelona, I already feel at home with the Peugeot team, but the aim will be to get settled into the race program as streamlined as possible. It’ll be a proud moment of my career, so I want to do a good job for the team but also enjoy it along the way!” — Alex Quinn

Esnault said the move was made with the future in mind. “Knowing that he will be one of our drivers from 2027 onwards, all the experience he can gain in Barcelona and Monza will be very valuable for the future,” he said.

Unchanged line-up in the #94

The #94 crew of Loïc Duval, Malthe Jakobsen and Théo Pourchaire stays the same. The trio took pole position at Spa-Francorchamps and has scored points in three of the last four races, most recently with sixth place at the 6 Hours of Fuji.

Pourchaire raced at Barcelona in the ELMS last year. He expects qualifying to matter: “Barcelona is not an easy circuit for overtaking either, so it will be important to be competitive in qualifying and to put ourselves in the best possible position for the race.”

Weekend schedule

  • Friday: two 90-minute free practice sessions, at 11:30 and 16:30
  • Saturday: third free practice at 08:50; Hypercar qualifying at 15:40, followed by the Hyperpole
  • Sunday: the first 6 Hours of Barcelona starts at 12:00 local time

The series streams qualifying and the race on FIAWEC+, and several television networks also broadcast the championship.

The 6 Hours of Barcelona starts on Sunday 18 October at 12:00 local time.

Source: www.fiawec.com