ERC
ERC 2026: What’s new?
The 43rd Andalusia Rally - Sierra Morena - Córdoba World Heritage Site opens the 73rd FIA European Rally Championship season next month. Here’s a reminder of what’s in the ERC new for 2026.
Sweden’s Sunday service: Having run from Thursday-Saturday since it joined the ERC roster in 2023, BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia will now take place from Friday-Sunday.
Rome is where the heart is: As well as an extensive route overhaul, Rally di Roma Capitale’s operational hub – including HQ, service park and media centre – will relocate from Fiuggi – its long-term home – to the Eternal City.
Rally Poland will use asphalt-only stages in 2026
© ERC
Poles apart: Rally Poland is moving 550 kilometres south from Mikołajki – where it’s been based since 2005 – to Katowice and switching from gravel to Tarmac in the process.
Final round on gravel again: For the first time since 2018 when Rally Liepāja hosted the action, a gravel event will form the deciding round of the ERC season with Rally Five Cities North of Portugal taking place from 23 - 25 October.
Junior ERC calendar changes: BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia and JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion are back on the Junior ERC schedule after missing out in 2025. Meanwhile, the stages of Rally Five Cities North of Portugal around Fafe represent unchartered territory for international rallying’s young stars.
Lancia returns to the top tier: Lancia will chase outright ERC honours in 2026 with its all-new Ypsilon Rally2 HF, something it hasn’t done since the early 1990s.
Lancia will return to the ERC's top tier
© Lancia
Introducing Rally6: The FIA’s latest entry-level category breaks cover in 2026 with Rally6 cars eligible for the ERC4 category. According to the governing body, Rally6 is designed to be “as cost effective as possible, particularly in terms of running costs”. Rally6 cars are based on the following concept: four-seater, two-wheel-drive cars with internal combustion engines, either 1.6-litre turbocharged or 2.0-litre normally aspirated fitted with competition ECUs achieving a power-to-weight ratio of 1050kg/140hp. The cars will use h-pattern gearboxes, production brakes and tyres and feature non-adjustable competition shock absorbers.
Competition numbers: From 2026 competition numbers must be displayed on the co-driver’s side of the windscreen beneath the championship identification strip.
Fuel: All ERC1 crews must use fuel provided by the official supplier.
Tyres: Each supplier can designate one specification of asphalt tyre and one specification of gravel tyre in the same pattern, which can be supplied in three compounds of which two compounds are nominated for use by each supplier on each ERC event. The permitted compounds will be listed in the Supplementary Regulations.
Merged groups for leg two: Rather than running within their category groups on leg two according to their classification at the end of leg one, all priority crews will run as a merged group on the second leg of each event. This means a Junior ERC crew could run ahead of an ERC3 crew, for example.
The 43rd Andalusia Rally - Sierra Morena - Córdoba World Heritage Site takes place from 17 - 19 April.
