Litwinowicz back for 2026 title tilt

Litwinowicz has enjoyed quite the career since bursting onto the international rallycross scene back in 2021. He advanced to the final four times out of five that year as a Euro RX3 rookie, reaching the rostrum at Spa-Francorchamps on his way to sixth in the overall classification.

The Poznan native built upon that promising start in his sophomore campaign 12 months later – when three consecutive trips to the podium propelled him to the runner-up position in the ranking – before taking the title in 2023 following a nip-and-tuck duel with Volland Racing team-mate, Espen Isaksætre. That prompted a step-up to Euro RX1 in 2024, when he finished inside the top three on his debut and concluded proceedings fourth in the series standings. 

Having switched to Automax Motorsport, Litwinowicz further underscored his raw speed last year as the only driver to progress to the final in every round. After posting rostrum results in Portugal and Hungary – despite grappling with a throttle issue and broken exhaust at Nyirád – he then popularly broke through with his maiden victory in the category in the Istanbul season finale.

He didn’t realise it at the time, but that triumph – which made him the first Polish driver to win at Euro RX’s highest level – elevated the Audi ace past Mika Liimatainen into second place in the championship, just three points shy of Yury Belevskiy.

“Going into the final in Türkiye, I didn’t even know I could finish second [in the standings],” the 27-year-old admitted. “That was for sure the best moment in my whole racing career. Before that, finishing second [in the opening round] at Lousada was also big, because at the beginning of the weekend, we felt we didn’t have great pace and we had to make a lot of changes to the car. We kept on improving it throughout the season, and the results got better and better. I think we did a really good job.”

That much is indisputable, and Litwinowicz is already looking ahead with eager anticipation to the 2026 schedule, which will get underway at Rīga’s historic Biķernieku trase on 9-10 May prior to calling into Nyirád (30-31 May), Höljes in Sweden (4-5 July), Mondello Park in Ireland (18-19 July), Lohéac in France (29-30 August) and finally Lousada in Portugal (12-13 September).

“I’ve never been to Rīga, so I’m really happy to see Latvia on the calendar – I’ve driven it a lot on DiRT Rally, and it’s a track I’ve always wanted to race at in real life,” enthused the former national and Central European Zone rallycross champion. “It looks like an amazing circuit.

“I really liked Lousada last year – that was a lot of fun to drive – and I love Höljes too, but I hope it will be sunny this year! The wet conditions in 2025 were so challenging. Out of the five times I’ve been there, it’s only been dry twice – and I hate driving in the wet! I’ve got to say, I’m a little bit worried about Ireland in that respect...”

The last comment is made tongue-in-cheek, but it is clear that whoever signs up to the forthcoming campaign of Euro RX1 competition, last year’s runner-up will be amongst the favourites for honours, as he bids to add a second international title to his burgeoning CV.

“Of course, whenever you enter something you want to win, but every season is tough and every season is different,” Litwinowicz acknowledged. “I think we will see a lot more drivers in Euro RX this year, but it’s good to drive with a big field and my aim is always to try to get the best out of myself. The objective has to be to consistently reach the final – and then we’ll see where that leaves us at the end...”