DOHA (Reuters) – Qatar will host a six-hour endurance race to open the 2024 World Endurance Championship (WEC) season, the chief executive of the organisation that oversees the championships said on Monday.
“We will open the 2024 season here in Qatar … it will be a six-hours format,” Frederic Lequien, CEO of Le Mans Endurance Management, said at a news conference, adding that the exact dates of the season have not been set yet.
The deal expands the Gulf Arab state’s role in international motorsports as Qatar is already hosting an annual Formula One race for 10 years starting in 2023.
Qatar hopes to expand sports tourism fixtures following the soccer World Cup, which concludes on Dec 18.
“We are the world centre of football. We want to assure our colleagues here that we will be number one in motorsports,” said Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways and Qatar Tourism.
Qatar plans to “modernise” the Losail circuit, where the six-hour endurance race will take place said Abdulrahman Al Mannai, president of the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation.
He did not elaborate on the renovation plans, but said the current layout is “very popular.”
(This story has been refiled to delete the extraneous number 6 in sixth paragraph).
(Reporting and writing by Andrew Mills; Editing by Ken Ferris)
