LUBIAK CROWNED PRE-1992 CHAMPION AS DELECOUR COMPLETES TITLE-WINNING SEASON WITH SANREMO VICTORY

Maciej Lubiak has been crowned 2026 FIA European Historic Rally Pre-1992 Champion after completing his outstanding campaign with victory in the championship’s final round at the 41st Sanremo Rally Storico.

Alongside co-driver Grzegorz Dachowski in the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.0, the Polish driver arrived on the Italian Riviera leading the standings and delivered when it mattered, securing the result required to confirm his first FIA European Historic Rally Championship title.

In the Pre-2000 Championship, François Delecour and Fabrice Gordon brought an already title-winning season to a fitting conclusion with victory aboard their Peugeot 306 Maxi, taking the overall Sanremo honours by 56 seconds.

The French crew arrived in Italy with the Pre-2000 crown already secured but showed no signs of easing off, taking the fight to their rivals across ten demanding asphalt special stages and 151.37 competitive kilometres in the Ligurian hills.

Delecour and Lubiak set the pace throughout Friday, sharing the eight stage victories equally as an intriguing battle developed at the front of the field.

Delecour established himself at the head of the order and ended the opening leg holding a 29.6-second advantage over Lubiak. The Pole remained firmly in contention, however, matching Delecour with four stage victories of his own as he closed in on the Pre-1992 crown.

Jari-Matti Latvala and Tomiya Maekawa were another crew to show strong pace aboard their Toyota Celica ST185. The Finn moved into third overall following the retirement of Ghislain de Mevius and Johan Jalet, whose Subaru Impreza was unable to leave service following the sixth special stage.

Latvala completed Friday over 1 minute behind Delecour, with Freddy Loix and Pieter Tsjoen holding fourth in their Toyota Corolla WRC and Andrea ‘Zippo’ Zivian and Nicola Arena the leading Italian crew in fifth with their Subaru Impreza GT.

Friday’s demanding stages also brought an early end to the hopes of six-time Sanremo Historic winner Lucio Da Zanche and Daniele De Luis. Running fifth at the time, the pair went off the road on the Ghimbegna stage in their Porsche 911, with both crew members unharmed.

Saturday brought a change of pace at the front as Latvala demonstrated the speed that has made him one of the most successful Finnish drivers in FIA World Rally Championship history. After spending Friday learning the unfamiliar Ligurian stages, he and Maekawa went fastest on both of Saturday’s tests on the Imperia ground.

Their speed was not enough to recover from two costly penalties, however. Latvala received a ten-minute penalty after failing to report to the final time control on Friday evening, before a further one-minute-and-ten-second penalty for leaving Saturday morning’s service seven minutes late. Despite winning both of the final day’s stages, the Toyota crew consequently finished tenth overall.

With Latvala dropping down the order, Delecour entered Saturday firmly in control. His advantage over Lubiak increased from 29.6 seconds overnight to 37.9 seconds following the penultimate stage, before the Frenchman completed the final test to secure victory by 56 seconds.

Lubiak and Dachowski crossed the line second overall and first among the Pre-1992 contenders, confirming the result that secured the 2026 FIA European Historic Rally Pre-1992 Championship. Loix and Tsjoen completed the overall podium in their Toyota Corolla WRC, finishing 3m07.0s behind Delecour.

Delecour and Lubiak leave Sanremo as the respective 2026 Pre-2000 and Pre-1992 Champions, with both drivers ending their European campaigns with victories on one of the continent’s most celebrated rallying stages.

While the Pre-1992 and Pre-2000 titles have now been decided, the 2026 FIA European Historic Rally Championship season is not over yet. Attention will next turn to the Gravel Championship, which concludes with Rally del Brunello in Italy from 27-29 November.