Sesks fastest in Portugal ERC practice and qualifying
Latvian rally driver Mārtiņš Sesks, in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, set the fastest time in qualifying at the final round of the European Rally Championship in Portugal. He finished 0.7 seconds ahead of team-mate Rope Korhonen.
The final round of the European Rally Championship (ERC), the Rally Six Cities North of Portugal 2026, got under way in Portugal on Friday. Latvian driver Mārtiņš Sesks (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) and co-driver Renārs set the fastest time in the qualifying stage, giving them a strong position going into the rest of the event.
Practice
In the first free practice run, Kris Meeke (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) was quickest, followed by Mikołaj Marczyk (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) and Sesks. In the second run, the Latvian crew already posted the overall best time, with Rope Korhonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) and Nikolay Gryazin (Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale) close behind.
Qualifying
The qualifying stage featured very deep ruts in places. It went badly for Meeke, who broke a wheel. Andrea Mabellini (Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale) rolled his car.
Sesks started qualifying fastest among the leaders and completed his run almost six seconds quicker than the nearest rival. No competitor was able to beat that time later. His team-mate Korhonen lost 0.7 seconds, and third place went to Pablo Sarrazin (Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale), who said after the finish that he had minor technical problems. Gryazin was fourth. Sesks improved his second practice time by six seconds in qualifying.
What comes next
Including participants from the Portuguese Rally Championship, 64 crews will start. Over three days, competitors must complete 17 special stages totalling 181.1 km. The first stage, 2.92 km long, starts at 21:05 Latvian time.
