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Two years later, the European Rally Championship (ERC) is back in Portugal and the country’s Northern region with the ERC Rally 6 Cities North of Portugal (October 23–25), serving as the closing event of the FIA ERC calendar and the final event of the year under the umbrella of the WRC Promoter. It will also feature, just like in the previous three editions, the Portuguese Rally Championship (CPR), serving as its penultimate round. The main novelty in the rally’s structure, aiming to enhance its future strategic and sporting potential—grounded in the promotion of Northern Portugal—is the inclusion of more municipalities, including Guimarães. The birthplace of Portuguese nationality will host the start ceremony and the awards ceremony, in addition to hosting the opening stage.
Fafe remains the nerve center (Service Park and Parc Fermé) of the rally organized by Demoporto – Clube de Desportos Motorizados do Porto, with the municipal partnership for this 2026 edition also including Felgueiras, Boticas, Cabeceiras de Basto, and Ribeira de Pena.
Even with the overall FIA ERC title already decided in the previous round—Rally Ceredigion, in Wales—in favor of Finland’s Teemu Suninen (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), a well-stacked entry list is expected for the season finale of the FIA’s second most important rally competition, since there are still titles up for grabs. Added to these uncertainties is the fight for supremacy in the CPR, meaning that over three days, the regions of Fafe, Guimarães, Felgueiras, Boticas, Cabeceiras de Basto, and Ribeira de Pena will be on the route of one of the most media-covered rallies of the year.
DEBUTS: PENHA/GUIMARÃES AND RIBEIRA DE PENA
With the inclusion of Guimarães and Ribeira de Pena among the host municipalities for this FIA ERC event, both regions are now integrated into its structure. Both the start and the finish (podium) will be staged at Campo de S. Mamede, next to Guimarães Castle, which will host a drivers’ autograph session on Friday afternoon following a brief parade of rally cars through the historic center. Moreover, the opening stage (Monte Penha/Guimarães) will take place on the outskirts of the city on asphalt, utilizing almost the entirety of the well-known Rampa da Penha.
The first leg, on Saturday, does not differ much from the previous 2023 ERC edition, with the novelties being the Ribeira de Pena stage, the remote service in Boticas, and also the regrouping in Cabeceiras de Basto, similar to what happened in the last two years of the CPR.
On Sunday, the final leg is split between Fafe and Felgueiras, featuring the “classic” Montim, Seixoso, Santa Quitéria, and Lameirinha stages.
FUTURE: MORE MUNICIPALITIES AND GREATER PROMOTION OF NORTHERN PORTUGAL
The arrival of the ERC in Portugal took place, it is worth remembering, in 2020, during the pandemic year, and the Rally Fafe Montelongo, on asphalt surfaces, served at the time as a “rehearsal” for the following three editions, which already featured gravel stages. “Taking advantage of the pandemic period to host the ERC, we made a good impression, through an effort by Demoporto and our partner municipalities, and that left at least one door open. This allowed us to return now to the European Championship, with 2026, 2027, and 2028 contracted and, eventually, even something more…”, stated Parcídio Summavielle, vice-president of the Fafe City Council and the great “driving force” behind the dynamics achieved by rallies in Fafe, whose territory is already considered, as he himself points out, one of the “world cathedrals of the sport”.
Regarding this Rally 6 Cities North of Portugal, that local official highlights the partnership of a group of municipalities such as Guimarães, Felgueiras, Ribeira de Pena, Boticas, and Cabeceiras de Basto, in addition to Fafe, to create conditions for holding a reference event. “Guimarães brings the weight of tradition, history, and heritage, and will be an extremely important strategic partner in an event that will be the last one of 2026 organized under the new promoter, which, as is known, is common to both the WRC and the ERC. It will be an honor, a privilege, and a huge responsibility for this group of municipalities to host the ERC season-closing rally.”
The future being projected, starting from 2027, for this rally points toward its growth and consolidation, with the entry of more municipalities, in a plan designed to promote Northern Portugal.
“The rally is called 6 Cities North of Portugal and we are not promoting Fafe, Guimarães, Cabeceiras de Basto, Boticas, Felgueiras, and Ribeira de Pena, but rather the entire Northern Portugal, which has been a privileged stage, appreciated and applauded at the highest level as far as rallies are concerned. We will not abandon this stage or Northern Portugal, nor will we give up the obligation to promote this unique territory. This work is done in collaboration with Turismo Porto e Norte de Portugal, and we hope, in the future, to create conditions for Turismo de Portugal, through Turismo Porto e Norte de Portugal, to get more and more intensely involved in the event. And I am in a position to announce that for 2027 we will already have more partner municipalities. We will not give up bringing in new territories with other potentials, because all the municipalities of Northern Portugal interest us and we can never have too many. Together we will surely be able to build an ever-better rally with greater projection, and everyone will win from this, Northern Portugal above all,” concluded Parcídio Summavielle.
CHAMPION TEEMU SUNINEN AND MORE… AT THE SEASON FINALE
Although entries for the Rally 6 Cities North of Portugal only close on October 7, it is a given that the main protagonists of the ERC will compete in the Portuguese event. Number one and new champion Teemu Suninen (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) will close out the season and try to help his team, the Portuguese squad The Racing Factory Motorsport Solutions, led by former driver Aloísio Monteiro, claim the ERC teams’ title. To do so, they will have to dethrone Team MRF Tyres, the current leader, which typically enters Simone Tempestini (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), Erik Cais (Hyundai i20 N Rally2), and Martin Vlcek (Hyundai i20 N Rally2). For this mission, the Portuguese team will have the “help” of Armindo Araújo (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), the eight-time Portuguese rally champion, who in this event (the penultimate of the season) will be battling for the top spots in the CPR.
Another guaranteed presence will be that of Lancia Corse HF’s official ERC driver, Italy’s Andrea Mabellini (Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale), who sits second in the overall championship and comes to defend that position against the 2025 ERC champion, Poland’s Miko Marczyk (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2).
It is worth noting that Finland’s Ville Vatananen (Ford Fiesta Rally3) has already secured the title in the ERC3 category, but both in ERC4 and Junior ERC, which share the same contenders, everything will be decided in Portugal between the German teammates from the ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team, Timo Schulz (112 points) and Tom Heindrichs, driving Opel Corsa Rally4s.
FORMER CHAMPION EFRÉN LLARENA EXPECTED TO RETURN IN FAFE
Winner of the 2022 ERC edition at the wheel of a Team MRF Tyres Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo, Spain’s Efrén Llarena is planning to return to the championship for this final event of the season. “I am working to secure the budget that will allow me to compete in Fafe, and then we will decide whether to do it with the Toyota or the Skoda, because our team has both, but everything will also depend on what our clients want,” said the driver, who in recent seasons has reduced his driving activity to focus on developing his team, Llarena Racing. “The Rally 6 Cities North of Portugal is the last race of the season and is quite close to home, hence the desire to return to an event where I’ve never had any luck. In my first participation I went off the road, and in the second we broke the radiator, but now I aim to get a good result.”
The duo Efrén Llarena/Sara Fernández (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) recently won the Rallye Blendio Cristian López Herrero (asphalt) and this past weekend, this time at the wheel of the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, finished ahead at the Rallye Villa de Llanes (asphalt), part of the Spanish Superchampionship—an event tragically interrupted due to the death of a co-driver following an accident four stages before the finish.
Roberto Blach (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2), the Llarena Racing driver who has participated in four ERC rounds, is also trying to gather support to conclude his season in Portugal.
CPR: TITLE COULD BE DECIDED IN THE NORTH
The outcome of the Rally 6 Cities North of Portugal, the penultimate (7th) round of the CPR, could be decisive in awarding the 2026 title. At this moment, prior to the Rallye Casinos do Algarve taking place this coming weekend (October 2–3), five drivers still have mathematical chances of dethroning the clear current leader, Rúben Rodrigues (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2). The latter, who already boasts four victories and holds a comfortable advantage (33 points) over Pedro Almeida (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2), could be in a position—if successful on the Algarve stages—to clinch the championship in his favor during the Portuguese ERC event.