Thirty-strong Euro RX1 field set for 2026 season-opener

No fewer than 68 drivers have committed to compete in Latvia – in Euro RX1 and Euro RX3 as well as the new Euro RX4 and Euro RX5 categories. Alongside the 30 protagonists in Euro RX1 – featuring some of the biggest names in the sport – there will be 15 participants in Euro RX3, 15 in Euro RX5 and eight in Euro RX4, with some 19 different nationalities represented across the board, from Finland and France to Poland and Portugal.

Euro RX1 

Eight-time World Champion Johan Kristoffersson tops the bill in the headlining division. The most successful driver in the modern era of the dual-surface discipline, the Swede has made just a single Euro RX appearance since 2014 and will be bidding to kick-start his seasonal programme in trademark fashion – on the top step of the podium.

In order to achieve that, however, the 37-year-old will need to see off a whole host of high-calibre rivals, including the likes of three-time European Champion Andreas Bakkerud, 2024 Euro RX1 title-winner Patrick O’Donovan, flying Finn Juha Rytkönen, double French Supercar Champion Fabien Pailler, his own KMS stablemate Ole Christian Veiby and home hero Jānis Baumanis, who is sure to receive the lion’s share of the local crowd’s support.

Add into the equation a cluster of rapidly rising stars including 2025 championship runner-up Damian Litwinowicz alongside Joni Turpeinen, Andor Trepák, Martin Enlund and Maiko Tamm, and the scene is unquestionably set for a sensational wheel-to-wheel show in front of thousands of enthusiastic fans around the popular and historic Biķernieku trase next month.

Euro RX3

On the topic of talented young guns, the Euro RX3 grid is full of them. In a class that has been won by an Audi driver every year since 2018, there is unsurprisingly a solid contingent of A1s – with standout entries for the likes of last year’s runner-up Rytis Gurklys, Antiguan ace Nicolas Geleyns, consistent Czech contender Libor Teješ and French teenage prodigy Julien Meunier. 

There are also, however many drivers who have elected to pursue a different path in their efforts to depose the all-conquering German hatchback, not least amongst whom Dylan Dufas with his newly-built Volkswagen Polo.

Similarly of note are last summer’s Höljes star Markus Røsrud and multiple podium-finisher Sámuel Kovács in Škoda machinery, while European Championship stalwart Dominik Senegacnik will intriguingly take to the track in an Alfa Romeo Mito – a car and brand not seen on the international rallycross scene since the end of 2018.

Euro RX4 and Euro RX5

In evidence of the success of the FIA’s commitment to nurturing the next generation and investing in future talent by offering an accessible entry route into the sport, new grassroots categories Euro RX4 and Euro RX5 have both attracted quality grids for their inaugural campaign.

Five different nationalities make up the Euro RX4 field, whose protagonists will do battle in a range of Rally4 machinery from Renault, Peugeot and Ford, while Euro RX5 – which adheres to the same technical specification as the FIA European Cross Car Championship – pits 15 hotly-tipped newcomers against one another in what is sure to be a spellbinding spectacle. You can find out more about each of the Euro RX5 entrants – whose average age is barely 20-years-old – here.