For as long as I can remember we’ve all enjoyed ‘Motorsport Christmas’ at the end of May.
For as long as I can remember we’ve all enjoyed ‘Motorsport Christmas’ at the end of May. I can’t even remember who coined the phrase (was it Elizabeth?), but I know a bunch of us have been calling it that for years.
The weekend in which, for as long I can remember, the marquee events of the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 are the dual centrepiece, followed by the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. In some years we also get MotoGP, N24, BTCC, or various other championships around the world also choosing the last full weekend in May.
Occasionally there are years Monaco and Indy don’t align. Both have been linked with traditional days in the local calendar. In Monaco it was the Sunday after Ascension Day, in Indy it is Memorial Day weekend.
They won’t align this year.
F1 has moved the Monaco GP to June 7th.
In its place on May 24th goes the Canadian GP.
You immediately see the problem. Yes, a North American F1 race the same day as the most prestigious North American race of all, the Indy 500. No, I don’t get it either. The good news is they shouldn’t directly overlap, but it will be very close.
None of this will matter for the armchair fan, for whom this remains a great day. If anything, if you are committed to going straight through without a break, you’re in luck! (Personally I do need a de-compression break between them. We won’t have that this year.).
According to the race day timetables, the start in Montreal should occur within minutes of the chequered flag at Indy. And the chequered in Montreal should occur very shortly before the Coke 600. But it is so tight that even one red flag, or a large amount of Safety Car running, will definitely impact our day.
What else is on?
Remember Formula 2 got moved to Canada after the problems in the Gulf. On top of that we have Supercars, BTCC, DTM, ADAC GT, Super Formula, and a whole bunch of things happening on dirt. And on Bank Holiday Monday there’s British GT!
I thought it was worth figuring out the timings for Sunday. And then I kept going and worked out how to watch things, at least if you’re here in the UK. For everyone else it’s helpful guide too, I hope.
All times British Summer Time.
Motorsport Christmas Eve:
Saturday 23rd May 2026
| Time (UK) | Expected Finish | Series | Race | Track | UK TV |
| 12:30am | 4am | NASCAR Trucks | North Carolina Education Lottery 200 | Charlotte | Premier Sports Streaming |
| 3:45am | 5am | Supercars | Race 1 | Symmons Plains | TNT Sports 2 |
| 12:15pm | 2pm | DTM | Race 1 | Zandvoort | Premier Sports Streaming |
| 2:40pm | 3pm | F1 Academy | Race 1 | Montreal | Sky Sports F1 |
| 3pm | 3:20pm | BTCC | Qualifying Race | Snetterton | ITV YouTube |
| 3pm | 3:20pm | GB4 | Race 1 | Oulton Park | MSV TV YouTube |
| 3:40pm | FREC | Race 1 | Zandvoort | FREC YouTube | |
| 5pm | 5:30pm | F1 | Sprint | Montreal | Sky Sports F1 |
| 5:45pm | 9pm | FIM Speedway | Czech GP | Prague | TNT Sports 2 |
| 7pm | 8pm | F2 | Race 1 | Montreal | Sky Sports F1 |
| 9pm | 10pm | F1 | Qualifying | Montreal | Sky Sports F1 |
| 9pm | 1:30am | NASCAR O’Reilly Series | Charbroil 300 | Charlotte | Premier Sports Streaming |
| 11pm | 11:25pm | F1 Academy | Race 2 | Montreal | Sky Sports F1 |
Motorsport Christmas Race Day:
Sunday 24th May 2026
| Time (UK) | Expected Finish | Series | Race | Track | UK TV |
| 6am | Supercars | Race 3 | Symmons Plains | TNT Sports 2 | |
| 11:30am | 12:00pm | BTCC | Race 1 | Snetterton | ITV4 |
| 12:15pm | 2pm | DTM | Race 2 | Zandvoort | Premier Sports Streaming |
| 2:20pm | 2:50pm | BTCC | Race 2 | Snetterton | ITV4 |
| 3pm | 3:50pm | IndyCar | Pre-Race | Indianapolis | Sky Sports F1 |
| 3:40pm | FREC | Race 2 | Zandvoort | FREC YouTube | |
| 3:50pm | IndyCar | Pre-Race | Indianapolis | Sky Sports Mix | |
| 3:50pm | 4:15pm | F1 Academy | Race 3 | Montreal | Sky Sports F1 |
| 4pm | FIA ERC | SS16 | Rally Scandinavia | TNT Sports 2 | |
| 4:47pm | IndyCar | Driver Intros | Indianapolis | Sky Sports Mix | |
| 4:55pm | 5:25pm | BTCC | Race 3 | Snetterton | ITV4 |
| 5pm | 5:30pm | F2 | Race 2 | Montreal | Sky Sports F1 |
| 5:24pm | IndyCar | Anthem | Indianapolis | Sky Sports Mix | |
| 5:36pm | IndyCar | Back Home Again | Indianapolis | Sky Sports Mix | |
| 5:45pm (Green) | 9pm | IndyCar | Indy 500 | Indianapolis | Sky Sports Mix |
| 8pm | F1 | Pre-Race | Montreal | Sky Sports F1 | |
| 9pm (Green) |
10:30pm | F1 | Canadian GP | Montreal | Sky Sports F1 |
| 10pm | 4:00am | NASCAR Cup | Coke 600 | Charlotte | Premier Sports 2 |
Motorsport Boxing Day:
Monday 25th May 2026
| Time (UK) | Expected Finish | Series | Race | Track | UK TV |
| 9:45am | 10:05am | GB4 | Race 2 | Oulton Park | MSV TV YouTube |
| 11:05am | 12:05pm | British GT | Race 1 | Oulton Park | GT World YouTube & Sky Sports F1 |
| 3pm | 3:20pm | GB4 | Race 3 | Oulton Park | MSV TV YouTube |
| 3:45pm | 4:45pm | British GT | Race 2 | Oulton Park | GT World YouTube & Sky Sports F1 |
NASCAR time is the TV window, I don’t know when the green flag is. Last year’s race ran 4h30m. If you’re in the UK, good job this is a Bank Holiday weekend.
With Supercars and Superformula starting early in the morning, NASCAR Cup finishing early in the morning the following day, and a pair of British GT races on the Monday.
These images from my calendars show all the races happening the weekend of Motorsport Christmas.
Subscribe to the calendars to get reminded!
