AVTOVAZ will hold the 28th edition of the Champions Race on January 24, 2026, one of the country’s main season-opening motorsport events.
The competition will take place on the automaker’s traditional ice track at its training facility in the village of Sosnovka, in the Samara Region.
The event takes place at a time when Russia is facing growing international isolation due to the war with Ukraine, which has limited the country’s participation in global sporting competitions and calendars. In this context, domestic events such as the Champions Race take on even greater symbolic and sporting significance within Russian motorsport.
In the 2026 edition, drivers will compete behind the wheel of the LADA Iskra Sport and the updated LADA Vesta Sport, bringing together 18 of the country’s leading motorsport figures. The year also marks the 30th anniversary of the Champions Race: the first competitions on the synchronized track at the AVTOVAZ complex took place in 1996, with rally driver Sergey Alyasov taking victory.
The current record holder, Kirill Ladygin, will attempt to reach a historic milestone by chasing his tenth victory in the anniversary year. The grid will also feature established winners of the event in Togliatti, such as Dmitry Bragin, Vladimir Sheshenin and Mikhail Mityaev, as well as notable newcomers. Among them are Formula 1 test driver and Silk Way Rally winner Roman Rusinov, KAMAZ-master team competitor and Russian rally-raid champion Bogdan Karimov, and national champion in the same discipline Vladimir Vasilyev.
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Champions Race 2026 also brings a significant technical update. The LADA Iskra Sport and the updated LADA Vesta Sport models will now use a naturally aspirated 1.8-liter engine with increased torque, paired with a five-speed sequential transmission. This setup had already demonstrated competitive performance in the racing Iskra in previous editions.
The competition format remains unchanged. In the opening phase, drivers race in pairs within their groups, with the two fastest advancing to the quarterfinals. From there, four finalists emerge to contest the title. The winner of the decisive race takes home the event’s main trophy: the traditional Silver Tower.
Source and images: AVTOVAZ JSC. This content was created with the assistance of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
