With an impressive number of participants and exciting battles, the “Pärnu Summer Race 2026” circuit racing competition was held last week at the “Porsche Ring” track, where more than 170 participants in total took to the start over three days. In the most fiercely contested classes of the Baltic Touring Car Championship, Matīss Maļinovskis (BMW 325 CUP), Rolands Alfredsons (BMW TURBO CUP) and Mareks Matvejevs (V1600) triumphed, while in the 2-hour endurance race, in competition among 40 teams, “Reimpex by Čapkauskas Autocentras” with the legendary Ramūnas Čapkauskas behind the wheel took the victory.
The race weekend organised by “Baltic Racing Series” began already on Thursday, when tests were held at the modern “Porsche Ring” track. On Friday, all participants of the Baltic Touring Car Championship and the Polish championships (WSMP and R-Sport Cup) completed official practice sessions and qualifying, while already on Friday evening the first races were held for several classes. On Saturday, exciting sprint races took place on the track throughout the day, while in the evening the impressive 2-hour endurance race was held. On Sunday, the competition concluded with the Estonian Formula Historic races, a couple of Polish classification races and a round of the “Baltic Time Attack” series.
The most exciting and fiercest battles, as usual, took place in both BMW classes. This time 17 participants took to the start in the “BMW 325 CUP”. In qualifying, championship leader Matīss Maļinovskis took the victory, leaving experienced Pole Karol Wyka and young Emīls Daugaviņš behind him. In the first race, Wyka made a great start and passed Maļinovskis, however the Latvian driver quickly managed to respond, regaining the lead and eventually also taking a convincing victory. Behind him there were great battles and position changes between the previously mentioned Wyka, Lithuanian Darius Gaidulionis and Estonian Karl Lang. It should be noted that Lang managed to set the fastest lap, which meant starting first for the second race.
This time, however, Maļinovskis made an excellent start and managed to pass Lang already in the first corner. After a couple of laps, following a small mistake by the Latvian, the Estonian managed to regain first place and eventually reach the chequered flag first. Maļinovskis, Gaidulionis and Wyka demonstrated impressive battles between themselves, which also included contact. In the end, however, Lang received a five-second penalty for being outside his starting position at the start, while Gaidulionis also received a five-second penalty for contact with Maļinovskis. Thus, the top three of the second race in the end were Maļinovskis, Lang and Wyka, while for the round overall Maļinovskis was first, Wyka second and Lang third.
In the BMW TURBO CUP class, the battle for victory this time was between Latvians Artjoms Kočlamazašvili and Rolands Alfredsons. In the first race, Kočlamazašvili started from first position, however Alfredsons quickly managed to take the lead. In the middle of the race, after a beautiful manoeuvre, the two leaders exchanged positions again and the battle between them continued all the way to the chequered flag, with Kočlamazašvili eventually taking the victory.
In the second race, Alfredsons started from first place and also managed to defend it at the start. What followed was an exciting duel throughout the entire race – in the middle of the race the experienced Kočlamazašvili passed in the Parabolica corner, however a couple of laps later in the same place the 16-year-old Alfredsons regained the lead and defended it all the way to the finish. Thus, Alfredsons was first in the round, Kočlamazašvili second, while third place went to Lithuanian Algirdas Gelžinis. It should be noted that the previous championship leader Aurimas Mištautas had an unsuccessful round, finishing fifth and now sharing first place in the overall standings with Kočlamazašvili on equal points. Alfredsons is only 12 points behind them, which means that an exciting title battle awaits us at the final round in Poznań.
The budget-friendly V1600 class of the Baltic Touring Car Championship also delighted spectators with beautiful manoeuvres and exciting battles. Mareks Matvejevs continued his dominance this season, taking a convincing victory in both races. Although he eventually finished second in both races, Nauris Agafonovs this time had to fight hard with young Estonian Risto Sirg, who demonstrated great speed and finished third. Meanwhile, in the ABC Race class the top three this time were Roberts Ozoliņš, Agnis Rozītis and Artūrs Ločs.
In the BTC class races, the fiercest battles were between Estonians Maido Mottus and Sven Karuse for victory in the BTC3 class. In the first race, victory went to the experienced Karuse, while in the second race and accordingly also in the overall results of the round, circuit racing newcomer Mottus was first. The fastest overall and in the BTC2 class was another Estonian, Kairo Kallas, while in the Historic classification victory went to Vilnis Batraks. The most dramatic moment of the weekend was provided by Polish DN6 class driver Ksawery Kolpaks, who rolled several times in the second race. Although the accident looked spectacular, fortunately the driver was fine. The car was also quickly repaired and managed to participate in the third race held on Sunday.
In the powerful GT class race, Audrius Pyktis (Mercedes-AMG GT3) celebrated a convincing victory overall and in the GT PRO class, leaving behind Artūrs Batraks and Egidijus Gelunas, both driving Lamborghini Huracans. Meanwhile, in the GT AM+ classification victory went to Mārtiņš Lukstiņš (Porsche Cayman), while Paulius Urbonavičius (Ginetta) was first in GT AM. Fierce battles could also be seen in the Mitjet Baltics series, where this time victory went to Vilius Reškevičius, Aras Kvedaras was second, while Dane Jesper Brunhoj Jensen was third.
As mentioned in the introduction, at the end of Saturday the “Porsche Ring” track was filled with 40 cars for the combined two-hour race, in which participants of the Hankook Endurance Challenge, Nankang Endurance Academy and R-Sport Cup took to the start. “ES AMG Motorsport” started from first position with Estonian Romet Reisin behind the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG GT3, however already on the first lap “Reimpex by Čapkauskas Autocentras” with Lithuanian legend Ramūnas Čapkauskas behind the wheel took over the race lead.
What followed was a breathtaking half-hour, during which both drivers flew through traffic and lapped cars, while battling not only the cars around them but also each other. On the 37th minute of the race, Reisin finally managed to regain the lead and after the overtaking manoeuvre also pulled away from Čapkauskas. However, during the mandatory pit stop, “ES AMG Motorsport” were forced to enter the pits later, which coincided with the time when the “Full Course Yellow” had already ended, thus they lost more time in the pits than their competitors. Audrius Pyktis took the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG GT3, while Čapkauskas continued behind the wheel also for the second stint of the race.
The time lost in the pits could no longer be recovered and Čapkauskas also continued confidently, thus “Reimpex by Čapkauskas Autocentras” could eventually celebrate a convincing victory, leaving behind “ES AMG Motorsport” and “Smart Cooling by Flash Racing LV” with Artūrs Batraks and Sandris Zvidriņš behind the wheel. Fourth overall and first in the GT AM+ class was another Latvian team, “Porsche Latvia Racing Team”, while the top five was completed by the GT AM class winners “Baltic Karting Academy”. In the BMW TURBO CUP class “Tevas Racing” were first, the BTC3 victory went to “Octoserver by RSparts”, in the BMW 325 CUP class “Daugaviņš Racing” were first, while the BTC1 victory went to “LDV Racing Team”. Meanwhile, “Kiwi Racing Team” triumphed in the Polish R-Sport Cup.
In the Estonian Formula Historic championship races held on Sunday, Valters Zviedris took a convincing victory overall and in the OPEN class, while Raitis Mūrnieks delivered an equally convincing performance in the MONDIAL class. Meanwhile, Valērijs Urbāns demonstrated great speed in the EASTER class, however retirement in the second race prevented him from taking the victory, which went to Estonian Asmo Aulik. In the Baltic Time Attack competition, Igors Voroņins (BSP4), Tonuri Nurmeots (BS4), Sten-Erik Sild (BS2), Jurgis Jankavičius (BP OPEN) and Vykintas Šakalis (BP2) triumphed.
The finale of the Baltic circuit racing season will take place from September 17 to 20 in Poznań, Poland, where the 2026 Baltic champions will be determined at the “Tor Poznan” track. More information about the completed “Pärnu Summer Race 2026” competition is available both at www.balticracingseries.eu and on the BRS social media channels on https://www.facebook.com/balticracingseries and https://www.instagram.com/balticracingseries/.