Silverstone will return to the World Endurance Championship for the first time in eight years, with the British track joining an expanded nine-round calendar for the 2027 season.
Ahead of this weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours, WEC promoters the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest confirmed the addition of a six-hour race at the British Grand Prix venue on 25 April.
The Silverstone race will mark the third round of the 2027 WEC, slotting in between two existing European races of the same length at Imola and Spa.
The championship is again due to kick off in Qatar on 27 March after this year’s 1812km race at Losail was pushed back to later in the season due to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East.
The 95th edition of Le Mans will be held on 12-13 June, as part of a busy first half of the season that will see five rounds taking place in the span of four months.
Following the conclusion of the European leg of the season, the WEC will head to the Americas and Asia as part of a largely unchanged calendar.
The Sao Paulo event is scheduled on 11 July, with the Austin race following two months later in September.
Japan will again host the penultimate round of the season, with the Fuji 6 Hours to be held on 26 September, while Bahrain will cap off the campaign again with an eight-hour day-to-night race on 6 November.
#35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Antonio Felix Da Costa, Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg
Photo by: Marc Fleury
“Following several seasons of stability, the growing popularity of FIA WEC – amongst manufacturers, media and fans – convinced us that now is the right time to expand the schedule,” said FIA WEC CEO Frederic Lequien.
“In Silverstone, we will be returning to a circuit with a history of generating exciting racing and attracting huge crowds, offering competitors a tremendous challenge while perfectly complementing the eight existing venues. With nine unmissable races across five global regions, another sensational season looks assured!”
With nine races spread across as many months, the 2026 WEC will be the longest season in the championship’s history since 2017.
Silverstone was an annual fixture in the reborn WEC throughout the 2010s, before the COVID-19 pandemic led to structural changes to the calendar.
The series reverted to an annual format in 2021 after briefly running seasons across two calendar years, while also slashing the number of races to six – with Silverstone one of the venues that were dropped.
The WEC has since cautioned against expanding the calendar too quickly, pushing back plans to return to Silverstone despite its long-term ambitions to host as many as 10 rounds a year.
A seventh race was only added in 2023, while the WEC went back to eight races a year in 2024 when it travelled to Qatar for the first time.
Start action
Photo by: Rolex
The possibility of Britain making a comeback appeared closer than ever when the ACO announced towards the end of last year that Silverstone would rejoin the European Le Mans Series calendar in 2026.
In the past, Silverstone hosted both ELMS and WEC races on the same weekend, something it could still do in 2027, pending the confirmation of the ELMS calendar. This year’s Silverstone ELMS round is scheduled for 14 September.
2027 WEC calendar
| No | Round | Date |
|---|---|---|
| – | Prologue (Qatar) | 21–22 March |
| 1 | Qatar 1812km | 25–27 March |
| 2 | Imola 6 Hours | 9–11 April |
| 3 | Silverstone 6 Hours | 23–25 April |
| 4 | Spa 6 Hours | 13–15 May |
| 5 | Le Mans 24 Hours | 9–13 June |
| 6 | Sao Paulo 6 Hours | 9–11 July |
| 7 | Austin 6 Hours (Lone Star Le Mans) | 10–12 September |
| 8 | Fuji 6 Hours | 24–26 September |
| 9 | Bahrain 8 Hours | 4–6 November |
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– The Autosport.com Team
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