Mãrtiņš Sesks will undertake exactly the same program in 2026 as 2025, so what are his goals?
Photography by M-Sport
Words by Luke Barry
The car’s the same, the co-driver’s the same, even the program is the same – all that’s new is the year on the calendar.
So will the approach be the same, or will it be new?
Mãrtiņš Sesks takes a moment to think about the question from DirtFish’s Alasdair Lindsay.
“Yeah, well…” Sesks ponders.
“The thing is that I have this knowledge, and now it’s the task of putting my knowledge into the right place, into the right things and doing the right things,” he says.
“And again, this is something new for me, so let’s see how we use our knowledge. And I think that it will be in Sweden to show myself personally if I can use my knowledge or not.”
Sesks finished sixth in Sweden last year - what will he manage this week?
Sesks returns to M-Sport’s Puma Rally1 lineup this term for an exact replica of his part-time campaign in 2025, containing at least six rallies (Sweden, Portugal, Acropolis Estonia, Finland, Sardinia) and potentially a seventh (Saudi Arabia).
He laughs at the notion of his return.
“Again, I’m returning and I’m back!” Sesks smiles. “It’s like always this game of being away and being back.”
What the Latvian craves is a full-time WRC schedule where he doesn’t constantly make headlines when he comes in and out, but without that his 2026 program is a clever one.
Last year he struggled at times on events he had either never done before, or never started in a Rally1 car. When the playing field was level – as in Saudi Arabia – he showed the same magic that earned him his WRC shot in the first place.
This time around, he’ll start every single event with at least some knowledge, meaning he should perform stronger this year than last.
“Saudi was a great event for us as it was new for everyone and that’s kind of the thing which we tried to prove the whole year of last year: that there is a big difference of when you are going to the rally for the first time while others have been doing that for many, many years and then when everybody is on the same conditions, this raw pace changes a bit for everybody,” Sesks explains.
“But then again, I’m now in a place where, you know, I’m doing Rally Sweden for a second time. So probably it should be that we are a bit more competitive, but I don’t know how it will go.
“Of course, we’ll try our best as we always do. But then again, this will be one of these interesting experiments of seeing how much knowledge actually helps.”
That experiment begins this week in Rally Sweden, where Sesks and co-driver Renãrs Francis finished sixth last year.
“I should say I’m more relaxed in a way because more or less we know what’s gonna happen there, how it’s gonna look and how’s the rally gonna be,” Sesks concludes.
“At least we are staying in the same hotel so I know where to go for breakfast! It could sound funny but it really helps for the second time when you’re going because you are less stressed about some other things and you can be more focused and let’s see how it feels to get on the stages which we know from previous years.”
You can watch the full 19-minute interview with Sesks now on Club DirtFish.
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: Club DirtFish, Mārtinš Sesks, Rally Sweden, Rally Sweden 2026, WRC, WRC 2026
Publish Date February 11, 2026 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2026/02/8oYPoojc-WRC_SWE_25_atmosphere_101-780x520.jpg February 11, 2026
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