Gulf 12 Hours Moves to January Slot in 2027

Driving Force Events has announced that the Gulf 12 Hours will move from December to January, with the next edition of the event set to be held in 2027.

Revealed on Saturday ahead of the 15th edition of the Abu Dhabi enduro, the next running of the event is set to take place on Jan. 10, 2027.

Driving Force CEO Andrea Ficarelli explained to reporters at the Yas Marina Circuit that the decision has been made to move the event due to a combined number of factors, which includes a smaller grid for this year’s race, a compressed timetable due to Formula 1 and logistical challenges.

This year’s event has attracted 20 entries from five manufacturers, down from 24 last year.

“The issue that we have now with the number of cars – they are good overall, good quality, but clearly it’s not in line with what expect as a starting grid for the Gulf 12 Hours, is the fact that the market has evolved in quite a difficult way,” said Ficarelli.

“The European activities are lasting longer and we have the logistics between Europe and the UAE that are longer than what it used to be.

“So we really find ourselves with a big block of teams that we’re trying to come, but they didn’t manage to do it on time.

“We also have some negative impact due to the Asian Le Mans Series, this is known.”

“The fact is that this race is probably a bit too early and it is also not ideal for a long endurance race like the Gulf 12 Hours because we are coming from a race that used to be run over four days and now compacting it into a few days.

“Our target clients at the end of the day are mainly gentleman drivers, they mainly want to have an event that is relatively relaxing.

“Compacting the event is clearly not ideal. So we took the decision that the next edition, the one that was planned for Dec. 2026, will move to Jan. 10, 2027.”

Ficarelli additionally revealed that the promotor will not abandon its traditional December date entirely, instead plotting to host a new, sprint-focused event exclusively for GT3 cars on Dec. 13.

The exact format for that event is yet to be fully determined.