With four days of testing and racing, mixed weather and starting grids and battles on track and off the track in Tor Poznan, the 2026 Baltic Touring Car Championship season has ended, and the winners have proven themselves as the fastest and best in 2026! More than 250 participants, mixed BaTCC with local WSMP racers battled on Tor Poznan race track.
Baltic Touring Car Championship
The BMW 325 CUP class fielded most of the cars in a single class from the Baltics – 16 participants from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Iceland and France. “RS Motorsport” member Matiss Malinovskis had a good advantage of points over Polish legend Karol Wyka, and Malinovskis had only to gather necessary points to clinch the title, he played it safe but was always ready to strike – Wyka got the lead from him in Race 1 and held it until the finish line, but Malinovskis was always really close by. Second race was quite similar, Wyka lead from Lap 1 and Malinovskis was in a close chase, finishing 0,5 sec behind. Wyka gets the double win on home soil and his first outright victory in BMW 325 CUP, while Malinovskis 2nd place in the event is more than enough to secure the title with 400 points to Wyka’s 356. More drama was in the battle for the 3rd in the standings. Collisions, punctures and other technical problems gave opportunities for many of the racers to get it. Laimonas Starkevicius (LIK Racing by KTK) had disastrous race 1 and after a short break in pit-stop to fix the damage could manage only 14th position, but a very strong performance in race 2 with 3rd position was enough to secure the bronze in 2026 standings and also Rookie class Champion’s title. Janis Horeliks took home 3rd place from Poland in Overall standings, with a 3rd place in race 1 and 4th in race 2.
Arturs Jansons managed to take 2nd place in the standings, overtaking Emils Daugavins in the Rookie standings. Daugavins remains third in the standings just 2 points ahead of Shkuri. Karol Wyka is the Master of the 2026 with 414 points, Dmitrijs Gornevs (Rode Racing) is second with 332 points and Donatas Jucius (LIK Racing by KTK) is in the 3rd position in the standings. While Olivier Villeneuve was the sole Gentleman in the Poznan, and acquired maximum of 120 points, securing his successive Gentlemen class title also in 2026.
Aurimas Mistautas and Artjoms Koclamazasvili were tied in the points before the final round and their target was very clear. Markas Silkunas was fastest in Qualifying with Koclamazasvili and Mistautas right behind. Eventful start, first lap saw Mistautas leading the pack, followed by Rolands Alfredsons, Koclamazasvili and Silkunas in fourth. Koclamazasvili managed to get past Alfredsons but could not really attack Mistautas for P1. Race 2 saw Mistautas taking the lead and controlling the pace and the distance, while Koclamazasvili had to fight for positions, with Silkunas, Brynjolfyr and Alfredsons. Koclamazasvili managed to get back to P2 but this means that the 2026 Champion is Mistautas, Koclamazasvili second, and third place goes to Rolands Alfredsons. 12 different drivers competed in 2026 season and some more are expected for 2027.
“BGT PRO” class champions title was set to be decided between two Lamborghinis – Arturs Batraks (Smart Cooling by Flash Racing) and Egidijus Gelunas (Reimpex by Capkauaskas Autocentras), with Martins Lukstins joining the grid for this race with “ES Motorsport” team Mercedes “AMG GT3 EVO”. The grid was mixed with a lot of similar pace drivers from Poland and it was a spectacular racing to be witnessed. Batraks was fastest in Qualifying, and was in P1 in Race 1 but was penalized with 25 seconds and pushed back to second place behind Lukstins. Batraks won Race 2 and Race 3, securing the 2026 title with 154, Gelunas second in the standings with 136 points and Lukstins performance in the Poznan gave him third position in the overall standings. “BGT AM” class title went to Audrius Piktys as his closest rival in the standings Martins Lukstins had switched classes. Piktys dominated the weekend taking 3 wins out of 3 races, beating Keijo Kaasik who made debut in Baltic GT racing. Paulius Urbonavicius had already secured the title before the event but still showed great speed winning first two races but was disqualified from Race 3, giving opportunity to Rokas Kvedaras win Race 3 and the whole evend and securing his 2nd position in the standings. First time comer to the BaTCC, Jenni Silventoinen from Finland took 3rd in the event, while third place in the standings belongs to Harri Horto.
In “BTC2” class Agnius Narbutas proved his 2026 great form and won all 3 races, even battling with more powerful cars. Orestas Burgaila had technical issues in the Poznan but managed second place in the 2026 standings, with Modestas Suolys clinching third in the overall standings with consistent pace and racing in Poznan. Real racing carousel was battle for “BTC3” class title with 7 drivers in the class suiting up for Race 1. Maido Mottus won the Qualifying followed by Martynas Balciunas and Marta Stark, while championship leader Sven Karuse was only fourth. Karuse managed to overtake opponents and close down the gap to Mottus to a just over a second when the finish line was crossed in Race 1. As Mottus was penalized for false start, the race victory went to Karuse, with Starka in second and Mottus in third. Race 2 was in wet conditions and had a lot of drama in the multi class racing, sadly Karuse was a victim of a spin in front of him, and in the contact had lost a wheel and bent his car – his sprint weekend was over. Ikars Putnins won both Race 2 and Race 3, while Starka and Mottus battled for the 2nd position – in the sum of points – Starka second and Mottus third in the Poznan race. Karuse’s victory in Race 1 and opponents splitting the points was enough for him to claim the 2026 BTC3 title, Marta Starka finished second in the season while veteran racer Atis Veismanis picked up just enough points in Poznan to take third in the overall standings, 2 points in front of Mottus.
Poznan 2026 was the first visit to the race track for “V1600” and “ABC Race” classes, with total of 10 entries in those classes. Mixed with local Polish series similar paced cars, the grid size went up to 30. New track, new emotions, but the same pole sitter – Mareks Matvejevs just managed by couple thousandths of a second to beat Nauris Agafonovs for first position in the class with Ruudi Reinumagi in third and Annija Anna Vitina in fourth. A lot of action right from the start of the race, saw multiple position changes that resulted in Agafonovs taking the chequered flag first followed by Matvejevs who was relegated to 4th position in the race after being penalized. Resulting in Reinumagi in second and Vitina in third. Race 2 in damp conditions saw similar action, with off-road excursions and different paces for racers. Reinumagi managed the race best of all, and took his first race victory, followed by Matvejevs and Agafonovs. Matvejevs won Race 3 ahead of Agafonovs and Reinumagi. In sum of all 3 races victory in the event goes to Agafonovs, second Reinumagi and third Matvejevs who comfortably won V1600 class 2026 standings for the second year in a row, followed by Agafonovs and Reinumagi. No less drama was in “ABC Race” class races where title was on the line and all podium positions in the season standings. Arturs Locs proved his pace in Race 1 building a gap and winning over his followers Agnis Rozitis and Luka Robalts, while Roberts Ozolins experienced technical problems with a car but managed to keep going and acquire very needed championship points in 4th position. In Race 2 Luka Robalts was fastest in the wet, followed by Locs and Rozitis, while Race 3 again belonged to Locs, this time followed by Rozitis and Robalts. Locs won the round with 68 points, Robalts second with 55 and Rozitis third with 51 and Ozolins fourth with 36. In the season standings those points were crucial as Ozolins is the champion with 169 points, Arturs Locs is second with 161, with one point in front of Rozitis.
“Group H” had no participants in Poznan and the season title belongs to Vilnis Batraks, followed by Ricards Alekss Svaglis and Andrejs Kuznecovs.
Hankook Endurance Challenge
In the 2h Hankook Endurance Challenge it was clear, that nothing is clear about the series champions – 1st place in the standings was for taking for two or more teams.
The “BGT PRO” class and also in the Overall standings, was the showdown between rivals of “Smart Cooling by Flash Racing” and “Reimpex by Capkauskas Autocentras” – math was simple, the one is in front of other is the winner. In the Qualifying “Reimpex by Capkauskas Autocentras” driven by Ramunas Capkauskas managed to take the pole position, beating “Smart Cooling by Flash Racing” with Arturs Batraks by the wheel by just 3 tenths of a second. “Smart Cooling by Flash Racing” managed to overtake the rivals on Lap 1 of the race and controlled the pace until the pit stop time. After pit stops “Reimpex by Capkauskas Autocentras” managed to be in front but lost the position to the rivals. A victory in the class and Overall standings of the event, also means that “Smart Cooling by Flash Racing” (Arturs Batraks/Sandis Zvidrins), are the 2026 Hankook Endurance Challenge Overall and BGT PRO champions. Second place in the class and overall goes to “Reimpex by Capkauskas Autocentras”, but third in class to “ES AMG Motorsport”.
In “BGT AM+” class the showdown was between “Porsche Latvia Racing Team” and “PI Rent by Baltic Karting Academy”, with 10 points in between. “Porsche Latvia Racing Team”(Vadims Vakarjuks/Kristaps Sarma) were ready for the pressure and held on – although the rivals won in Qualifying, “Porsche Latvia Racing Team” team was fastest in the race, taking the class victory and P3 in the overall standings, clinching the “BGT AM+” class title and 3rd place in the overall standings.
“BGT AM” was battle between “Baltic Karting Academy” from Lithuania and “Eagle Racing” from Finland. Qualifying victory went to the Finnish team, but in the race victory belonged to “Baltic Karting Academy”(Vilius Reskevicius/Aras Kvedaras), and with a win in the race – also the title comes! “Eagle Racing” are second in the standings and “Energizer by RSparts” took third in the event and third in the overall standings of the season.
Nankang Endurance Academy
20 cars lined up for the Nankang Endurance Academy race in Poland, with most of the entries(7) in the “BMW 325 CUP” class where season standings positions had to be determined. Season leaders “IBIZA” racing with Matiss Malinovskis and Karol Wyka won the Qualifying and were leaders of the race but technical issues forced the team to lose many laps in the process, meaning just 7th position in the class, this was perfectly capitalized by their main rivals “Daugavins Racing” – they managed to take the 3rd position in the race and acquiring enough points to take the title by 194 points, 8 more than “IBIZA”. “Rode Racing” team won the race, but it was not enough to lift the team higher than 4th in the standings. As “Agentus 325 CUP” took 2nd in the race and 3rd in the season.
“BMW Turbo Cup” class had 6 entries in the 2h race. “Contribee Racing” (Markas Silkunas/Petras Degtiarenka) were fastest in the Qualifying but “Viptuning Team” overtook them and held the lead until pitstops and until the team was disqualified, giving the lead back to “Contribee Racing” who managed to held it until the line, beating “Tevas Racing” and “Rode Racing Turbo”. Thus, season champions are “Contribee Racing” followed by “Rode Racing Turbo” and “Laista” in the third.
“BTC3” had 3 candidates for the title “RS Racing Team”, “RS Motorsports Jurmala” and “MANDE Racing Team by Autoradvilis”(Dovidas Najus/Martynas Balciunas), who won the Qualifying, but the race belonged “RS Motorsports Jurmala” (Ricards Subeckis/Marta Starka), quickly grabbed the first place and crossed the finish line in front of rivals. “Octoserver by RSparts” finished second, followed by “MANDE Racing Team by Autoradvilis” who finished the season in third place, while 2nd place in the standings after 4th place in Poznan belongs to “RS Racing Team” from Estonia.
“V1600” and “BTC2” each had only one participant. “MZGD” team (Sandis Laube) safely crossed the finish line, gathered needed points and claimed the 2026 “V1600” class title. While in “BTC2” class the same was done by “Fri.tech” racing team(Tomas Jatkevicius/Modestas Suolys).
The 2026 season is in the books! News for 2027 will follow shortly.