The starting lights in Qatar will turn green two hours later than planned: Why the 2025 WEC opener has been given a new start time and will now last until just before midnight
The start time for the 2025 World Endurance Championship opener in Qatar has been pushed back two hours. Originally scheduled to start at 12:00 local time, the race will now start at 14:00 and, if the maximum race duration of ten hours is reached, may continue until midnight.
This adjustment was confirmed by the WEC organizer on Wednesday. The reason given for the change was cultural and religious considerations regarding the start of Ramadan. The rescheduling makes it possible to run a larger part of the race in the later hours of the day and into the night, when the fasting period for devout Muslims has already passed.
An official WEC statement said that “in recognition of cultural and religious considerations and given the timing of the race in relation to the start of Ramadan, the decision has been made to adjust the start time of the Qatar 1812 km.”
Will Penske-Porsche defend victory?
The 1812-kilometer race of Qatar was first held in 2024 and marked the start of the WEC season. The name of the race is derived from Qatar’s national day on December 18. The race distance is 1812 kilometers with a maximum race duration of ten hours.
Last year, the WEC season opener did not coincide with the beginning of Ramadan, so there was no change to the schedule. At the debut race in the 2024 season, the Penske-Porsche secured victory with drivers Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor. The trio completed a total of 335 laps of the Losail International Circuit and finished the race after 9 hours and 55 minutes.
The fact that motorsport is geared to Ramadan was also the case last year – namely in Formula 1. To ensure that the first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia take place before the start of Ramadan, both events were brought forward by one day and therefore took place on Saturday.
