Start numbers for Rally Sarma 2026 revealed – a fierce battle expected

On February 7, 2026, the traditional winter rally Sarma will take place on the roads of the Gulbene region. Now in its 51st year, the event continues to delight competitors and fans alike with truly wintery and challenging roads. Once again, the entry list is full of surprises, featuring not only regular competitors from the Latvian Rally Championship, but also crews who have come to Latvia solely to experience a genuine winter rally. Carrying start number one will be the winner of the opening round of the Latvian Rally Championship, Estonian driver Karl Martin Volver, who will compete in Sarma with his familiar Škoda Fabia PROTO.

Start numbers two and three, based on the results of the first championship round, have been allocated to Poland’s Aron Domżała in a Škoda Fabia R5 Evo and Britain’s Philip Allen in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. Special attention should also be paid to start number four, Estonian Joosep Ralf Nõgene, who will compete in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 and has chosen Rally Sarma as part of his preparation for the Finnish Rally Championship season. However, even greater focus will be on start number twelve, assigned to the current Polish Rally Champion Jakub Matulka, driving a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. Matulka has previously competed in Latvia only in the ERC summer round, but ahead of this rally he has completed extensive testing on winter roads in Poland. His start position is very likely to provide a significant advantage during the opening loop of the rally. Close behind him, with start number fourteen, will be his teammate Mikołaj Kempa, also in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, marking his return to Rally Sarma after a six-year absence.

The presence of these competitors suggests that the tradition broken last year by Emīls Blūms, who this time will compete in the role of co-driver, whereby the overall Rally Sarma winner’s honours usually travel abroad, is likely to return to its familiar course this year. Even a glance at the entry list leaves little illusion that Latvian drivers will have an easy task competing against such a strong presence of world-class machinery.

Among the Latvian competitors, an especially intriguing internal battle is shaping up. Start numbers six through ten have been assigned to the leading local contenders – Ralfs Sirmacis, Jānis Vorobjovs, Kalvis Blūms and Edijs Bergmanis, all of whom will compete in Mitsubishi rally cars, while Elviss Hermanis will start in a Škoda Fabia.

Spectators’ attention will undoubtedly also be drawn to the Historic Rally Car Championship competitors, particularly the Velme brothers, who will contest a winter rally for the first time with their much-admired Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2, a car beloved both in Latvia and abroad. They have been assigned the highly symbolic start number 21, with their closest rivals – Intars Rezakovs, Oskars Līdaks and Vigo Rubenis – following them in the start order.

As previously announced by the organizers, after the rally and historic rally crews have completed the special stages, additional safety crews will run the stages to prepare them for the rally sprint competitors. The first rally sprint crew to start will be Kristaps Dzīvītis, carrying start number 60. A fierce battle is also expected in the rally sprint classification, with competitors such as Mārtiņš Ķikusts, Jurģis Meisters, Māris Erts, Andris Spilva and even Guntis Lielkājis set to take part.

In total, the provisional entry list for Rally Sarma 2026 includes 77 crews from six countries. The full entry list and other important information for spectators and competitors are available on the Latvian Rally Championship website at autorally.lv. Rally tickets can be purchased only online via the ticketing platform ekase.lv. The organizers remind spectators that tickets will not be available for purchase at the entrances to the special stages, and experience from previous years shows that internet access near the stages can be limited. Therefore, fans are strongly encouraged to purchase tickets in advance.