Why is the first round of the WEC in 2025 taking place on a Friday?

A rare and unique event in the 2025 WEC calendar: the 1812 km of Qatar, the opening round of the season, will take place on Friday February 28.

Published 04/02/2025 à 11:04

Dorian Grangier

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Why is the first round of the WEC in 2025 taking place on a Friday?

© Germain Hazard / DPPI

Races organized on Saturday or Sunday, the WEC is used to it. Take the example of 24H of Le Mans which traditionally starts on Saturday at 16:00 p.m. In 2024, in addition to Le Mans, three rounds took place on a Saturday and this year again, the 6 Hours of Spa (May 10) and the 8 Hours of Bahrain (November 8) will take place only on Saturday… but in 2025, one race will take place on Friday! A rare occurrence in the World ChampionshipEnduranceIndeed, the opening round of this 2025 championship, the 1812 km of Qatar, will be held on Friday February 28.

Yet, last year, for the first edition of the Qatari event, the race took place on Saturday for a duration of around ten hours. However, in 2025, the WEC had to adapt to local constraints in this predominantly Muslim region of the world. Indeed, the 2025 "Night of Doubt" - which launches Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims where believers practice fasting - is scheduled for the evening of February 28. Thus, the championship decided to bring forward the date of the 1812 km of Qatar by one day to avoid encroaching on this period.

WEC impacted like F1

This is not an isolated case since in Formula 1 Ramadan also had an impact on the calendar. In 2024, the first two rounds of the season – in Bahrain and then in Saudi Arabia – had been brought forward to Saturday to avoid a clash with the start of Ramadan, which was scheduled for the day after the Saudi round. This year again, the calendar has been disrupted to respect this period: unlike previous seasons, the Middle East will not be the scene of the first races of the championship. Indeed, the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix will take place in April, after the Asian tour and after the end of Ramadan, scheduled for March 29.

While hosting a WEC race on a Friday is a rare occurrence, it is not unprecedented. Indeed, as recently as 2023, the opening round at Sebring was held on Friday, March 17, 2023 as part of the "Super Sebring," where the 1000 Miles of Sebring (WEC) and the 12 hours from Sebring (IMSA) are organized on the same weekend. This was also the case in 2022, where both championships met at the same location, on the same weekend.

ALSO READ > WEC 2025 Calendar: discover the complete agenda for the 8 rounds of Endurance

Dorian Grangier

A young journalist nostalgic for the motorsport of yesteryear. Raised on the exploits of Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso.

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