WRC
What does the future hold for Mārtiņš Sesks?
With the dust settling on the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship season, attention is turning to the race to secure a drive for 2027.
Among those assessing their options is Mārtiņš Sesks, who completed a six-round programme with M-Sport Ford this year.
The Latvian again showed flashes of pace, trading stage times with the championship’s elite, but described his 2026 campaign as “troubled” by issues and misfortune. The 27-year-old suffered tyre damage in Sweden, Portugal, Greece and Sardegna, limiting his chances of a strong points haul across those events.
Finland offered a glimpse of his potential, with Sesks running as high as fifth before a crash towards the end of SS14 ended his hopes of a strong finish. Sesks and co-driver Renārs Francis ultimately recorded three points-scoring finishes, with the Latvian ending the season 16th in the drivers’ standings.
“Our weekend [in Sardegna] had troubles as we had in all of the rallies this year. We didn’t have any rally without an issue so that is what we get for this year,” said Sesks.
“It [the season] was troubled. But again we showed some good stage times, top three times and so on, but in the end it didn’t really go anywhere. I’m not sure how to rate my season.
“I think last year we were less experienced and last year in Saudi Arabia, while it didn’t end up well, we still had some good rallies and we were leading the rally.
“Let’s see what the future brings.”
Before turning his full attention to 2027, Sesks will join Roope Korhonen and Patrick Enok in the Team MRF Tyres line-up for this weekend’s FIA European Rally Championship finale, Rally 6 Cities North of Portugal.
The event will mark his second ERC appearance of the season, following second place at May’s BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia in an MRF Tyres-shod Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.
It will also offer Sesks another chance to impress as he considers his next move. After stop-start campaigns in 2025 and 2026, securing more regular seat time is high on his list of priorities for 2027.
“I will probably drive something with someone, somewhere,” said Sesks when asked about his plans for 2027.
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“It is just a matter of seeing what is possible and what kind of offers we can have and what kind of discussions we can have.
“There are a few chances to do something but it depends on how much we can do and what we can do. In the past two years it has been really nice to drive in the highest category, but if you are not doing it fully then for me to come to a rally and then struggle is [challenging].
“Minimum events in a programme I don’t know, maybe we do half a year but we do everything in a row. You saw the speed in Finland when we were fighting with the cars at the top, so that was where we were starting to get good speed and then I had two months off before the next rally.
“I think it is also a question that after these two and half years that if part-time offers are all we can get then I probably need to do something else.”
