Weekend Warm-Up: Sepang Returns, Petit Le Mans Goes the Distance and Barcelona Decides the Sprint Cup

AI-generated editorial illustration — not an event photograph or an exact depiction of the cars.

Put the coffee on: the opening weekend of October asks racing fans to follow everything from a Formula 1 return to a ten-hour endurance race.

Our Weekend Warm-Up for September 28–October 4 covers A&E’s main international and U.S. championships, plus the support races at the featured events. It is a guide to that coverage slate, rather than an exhaustive calendar of every regional or club meeting.

All times below are U.S. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT, UTC−4). They are scheduled race/session starts, not necessarily the start of television coverage.

The main events

Championship	Event	Race date and time in EDT	Why it belongs on your radar
Formula 1	Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia — Sepang	Sunday, Oct. 4, 3:00 a.m.	A familiar circuit returns under an unusual event name.
IMSA WeatherTech	Motul Petit Le Mans — Road Atlanta	Saturday, Oct. 3, 12:10 p.m.; scheduled finish 10:10 p.m.	Ten hours of racing close the WeatherTech season.
GT World Challenge Europe	Sprint Cup finale — Barcelona	Saturday, Oct. 3, 8:00 a.m.; Sunday, Oct. 4, 10:00 a.m.	Two races to settle the remaining Sprint Cup titles.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series	Las Vegas	Saturday, Oct. 3, 7:30 p.m.	Stock-car racing joins an already busy Saturday evening.
NASCAR Cup Series	Las Vegas	Sunday, Oct. 4, 5:30 p.m.	A late-afternoon Eastern slot rounds out the weekend.
MotoGP	Japanese GP — Motegi	Sprint: Saturday, Oct. 3, 2:00 a.m.; GP: Sunday, Oct. 4, 1:00 a.m.	Early alarms for the premier motorcycle class.
WRC	Rally Italia Sardegna	Oct. 1–4, multiple stages	Four days of rally action rather than a single race start.

Sources: F1 timetable, IMSA event schedule, SRO event timetable, NASCAR national schedules, MotoGP timetable, WRC calendar.

F1: Sepang gets its moment again

The Bahrain Grand Prix name travels to Malaysia this weekend. Sepang hosts the race on October 4, with qualifying at 4:00 a.m. EDT on Saturday. The return provides a very different setting from Bahrain’s usual home, and our expanded Sepang preview is planned for Thursday, October 1. Full weekend timetable

Explore: Read the Sepang preview · Alonso and Stroll confirmed for 2027 · More Formula 1 news

Endurance: make room for Petit Le Mans

Road Atlanta is the weekend’s long-haul commitment. IMSA’s season finale brings prototype and GT competition together for ten hours, with championship outcomes on the line. Our viewing priority is the closing stretch: it is where the accumulated work of an endurance race has to survive the final fight.

For U.S. viewers, IMSA lists Peacock coverage from noon, NBC from noon to 3 p.m., and NBCSN thereafter. International streaming availability differs; check the official event page for your territory. The broadcast opens before the scheduled 12:10 p.m. start. Championship preview

Explore: More IMSA news

GT3: two races, one last Sprint weekend

Barcelona offers a compact alternative to the endurance marathon: one Sprint Cup race on Saturday and another on Sunday. The championship’s official preview lists free live coverage on the GT World YouTube channel. Our expanded finale preview explores the title fight. SRO preview

Explore: Read the Barcelona finale preview · More GT racing news

Don’t overlook the supporting races

Venue	Additional racing this week
Road Atlanta	VP Racing SportsCar Challenge: Thu. 1:10 p.m., Fri. 8:30 a.m.; Mazda MX-5 Cup: Thu. 2:15 p.m., Fri. 9:35 a.m.; Porsche Carrera Cup North America: Thu. 5:25 p.m., Fri. 3:55 p.m.; Michelin Pilot Challenge’s FOX Factory 120: Fri. 11:40 a.m.
Motegi	Moto3: Saturday 10:00 p.m. EDT; Moto2: Saturday 11:15 p.m. EDT. Both are Sunday races in Japan.
Sepang	Formula Trophy Malaysia: Saturday 2:15 a.m. EDT and Saturday 11:45 p.m. EDT; the latter is Sunday locally.
Barcelona	McLaren Trophy Europe, Lamborghini Super Trofeo and GT3 Revival Series each have two races. See the full event timetable for support-session times.

Sources: IMSA, MotoGP, F1 support timetable, Barcelona timetable.

Who is away from the grid?

IndyCar’s season concluded at Laguna Seca on September 6, while Formula E’s 2025/26 finale was held in London in August. NASCAR Trucks have no race in this week’s national-series schedule. WEC’s next race is Barcelona on October 18, following last weekend’s Fuji round. GT World Challenge America’s Indianapolis weekend and DTM’s Hockenheim finale are both listed for October 9–11. IndyCar · Formula E · NASCAR · Toyota/WEC · GT America · DTM

Catch up: Read how Toyota won at Fuji · More WEC and Le Mans news

Browse the other categories: IndyCar · Formula E · GT racing · DTM.

Our pick for a manageable weekend? Barcelona on Saturday morning, the finish of Petit Le Mans that evening, and Sunday’s GT3 finale. Add Sepang and Motegi live if the overnight hours suit you—or save those for a spoiler-free replay.

Which race gets your main screen this weekend?