ELMS to Hold Sunset Race at Barcelona

Photo: MPS Agency

The European Le Mans Series will hold an evening race when it returns to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in July, with the race moved to a Saturday slot at sunset.

The Four Hours of Barcelona will now start at 6:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, July 20, and conclude under darkness at 10:30 p.m.

Sunset in Montmelo will occur at around 9:20 p.m.

The race was initially scheduled for the standard ELMS time of Sunday afternoon, but the decision to move it came due to the July weather in Spain.

“The race in Barcelona is new for 2019 and we wanted to make this event more attractive for the Spanish fans and more comfortable for our teams,” explained ELMS CEO Gerard Neveu.

“The weather in July is hot, so moving the race to Saturday evening will be better for the fans and for the competitors, especially the drivers.

“Having the race finishing after sunset will also make the 4 Hours of Barcelona unique on the ELMS calendar. We are looking forward to come back to Barcelona after so many years.”

The event will still start on the Friday morning rather than moving Free Practice a day earlier to Thursday, and will serve as round three of the season.

The FIA World Endurance Championship’s Prologue will take place on the Tuesday and Wednesday following the ELMS race.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.