Latvian rally champions – in three classes.

Although the division into seven classes – 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 – depending on the technical compliance of the car used by the crew, will retained in the future as well, starting from the 2026 season, it will be possible to become a champion in three “combined” classes of the Latvian Rally Championship (“LRC”) – LRC 1 (or overall class), LRC 4 (or front-wheel drive car class) and LRC 6 (or rear-wheel drive car class). At the same time, the remaining four classes will bear the status of the Latvian Rally Cup (“RC”) and will be named – RC 2, RC 3, RC 5 and RC 7.

In order to ensure the opportunity for each crew to become a Latvian champion, it is important to point out that the LRC classes will include both LRC and RC crews. When applying for a round of the Latvian Rally Championship, the class will have to be indicated according to the technical compliance of the car.

Meanwhile, further actions will take place automatically. For example, all RC 7 crews with rear-wheel drive cars will also be included in class LRC 6. While all RC 7 crews with front-wheel drive cars will be automatically included in class LRC 4.

Finally, as it has been initiated in 2024, absolutely all Latvian Rally Championship and Latvian Rally Cup crews will be included in class LRC 1, also determining the overall fastest crew of the Latvian Championship.

Championship and cup classifications.

Starting from the 2026 season, it has been restricted that a crew can only score season points in one of the championships or cups – the Latvian Rally Championship (Cup) (LRC/RC), the Latvian Historic Car Rally Cup (VRK) or the Latvian Rallysprint Cup (RSK).

For example, if a crew wants to score points in the Latvian Rally Championship (Cup) season standings, it cannot simultaneously earn points in the Latvian Rallysprint Cup season standings. The same applies to crews competing in the Latvian Historic Car Rally Cup – while fighting for VRK season standings, they cannot simultaneously earn season points in any of the rallysprint or rally standings.

Crews should note that it is permissible to change championship/cup affiliation once per season – but this is only intended when moving to a higher-tier sporting level. That is, RSK crews can transfer to VRK or LRC/RC, while VRK crews are allowed to transfer to LRC/RC.

Photo: Latvijas Rallija Čempionāts

Team classification.

Starting with the 2026 season, the interdisciplinary Latvian Rally Team classification will be reintroduced - at the end of the season, after a total of eight competitions, rewarding not only the drivers, but also the extensive staff that ensures the crews' participation in the competition.

Each team will be able to enter two to three crews, of which the nominal first crew will be locked-in for the entire 2026 season, the nominal second crew can be changed once per season, and the nominal third crew can be different for each rally. It should be noted that one crew will be able to compete for no more than two different teams during the 2026 season.

In order to enter a team for participation in the 2026 Latvian Rally Team classification, it will need an competitors's license, as well as pay a registration fee of 500.00 euros. At the same time, the crews entered under a registered team will be provided with an increased area in the service park, two road-books, expanded access to the GPS security and tracking system, as well as the opportunity to publish news on the official website of the Latvian Rally Championship www.autorally.lv.

The Latvian Rally Team classification is intended for all Latvian rally crews, as rally, rallysprint and historic car crews will be able to score points for the season’s overall standings.

That is, to determine how many points each Team has scored, five different overall standings will be considered – LRC 1, LRC 4, LRC 6, VRK and RSK. Accordingly, in each of the overall standings, the team points will be calculated for the 15 fastest crews according to the following table:

1st place              30 points

2nd place            24 points

3rd place             21 points

4th place             19 points

5th place             17 points

6th place             15 points

7th place             13 points

8th place             11 points

9th place             9 points

10th place           7 points

11th place           5 points

12th place           4 points

13th place           3 points

14th place           2 points

15th place           1 point

Thus, at the end of the each competition, the number of points scored by the Team will be the sum of the highest points calculated by the two crews.

It should be clarified that if a crew has scored points in two LRC overall rankings (for example, LRC 6 and LRC 1), then only the best result of this crew will be counted towards the Team ranking; that is, one crew cannot score points in two different overall rankings.

 Photo: Latvijas Rallija Čempionāts

Clarifications and changes in the classes.

LRČ 4. The list of permitted car groups has been expanded.

LRK 5. It will no longer be possible to start with cars that comply with the technical regulations of the Baltic Open group.

LRK 6. Intended only for rear-wheel drive cars.

VRK12. The engine displacement of allowed cars has been increased from 2000 cm3 to 3000 cm3.

VRK13. Intended for single-axle drive cars with an engine displacement of up to 1600 cm3.

Clarifications in the calendar of the Latvian Rally Championship.

The Latvian Rally Championship calendar has also been clarified. Its planned summer round in Estonia – the “Lõuna-Eesti” rally – will take place in its planned reserve week, i.e. on July 3-4, 2026.

At the same time, it has been determined that the reserve stage of the Latvian Rally Championship, if necessary, will be the rallysprint “Latvija” scheduled for October 24-25, 2026.

2026 Calendar of the Latvian Rally Championship and Latvian Rally Cup:

Photo: Latvijas Rallija Čempionāts

Starting position of the Latvian Historic Car Rally Cup participants.

Until now, the Latvian Historic Car Rally Cup competition, which took place simultaneously with the round of the Latvian Rally Championship, used a system in which all historic car crews started the special stages before the first rally crew. However, as the number of historic car participants and the performance of the cars increased, it has been observed that the road surface of the special stage is significantly affected, and for the leading rally crew, which starts with #1, the road condition not necessarily is in the best possible condition. It has also been observed that the performance of historic car crews in special stages is comparable to the performance of rally and rallysprint crews; thus, also from a safety point of view, their start alongside all crews within one rally channel does not create obstacles to the successful conduct of the competition.

Taking these aspects into account, it has been decided that starting from the 2026 season, participants of the Latvian Historic Car Rally Cup competing with all-wheel drive cars (i.e. VRK 11) will compete in the same channel with rally/rallysprint crews. Meanwhile, crews with single-axle drive cars (VRK 12 and VRK 13) will retain this priority opportunity to compete ahead of the first rally crew.

Latvian Rallysprint Cup distance.

Starting with the 2026 season, it is stipulated that the sporting distance to be covered in the special stages of the Latvian Rallysprint Cup competitions must be no less than 51 kilometres, but not exceeding 75 kilometres.

Thus, in the future, it is not expected that rallysprint competitions with an increased coefficient of 1,5 and a sporting distance of 76-102 km will take place.

Information about Latvian Rally Championship available on our official website www.autorally.lv, as well as on social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and X.