To ensure fairness since not everyone can afford to run the full season, the FIA Baja Cups require drivers to designate a certain number of races that will count toward their points total. Any additional races they run after that won’t be included in the final championship standing, even if they win.

With the 2026 European Baja Cup schedule being shorter than 2025, the eligible race count has been reduced to six.

The calendar had previously been nine races long, so the FIA allowed drivers to count six of them for points. However, the Baja Troia Türkiye was dropped from the slate for 2026 due to poor turnout at the 2025 edition in May. With no replacement planned, the EBC now spans eight rounds.

Bartłomiej Wajzer, who won the EBC overall title, did the first seven races as his points-earning starts before sitting out the last two events in Portugal since he exhausted his limit. Meanwhile, Challenger champion Miguel Valero sat out Turkey and Hungary while running the other six.

The reduction aligns the EBC with the World Baja Cup, who also does six of eight. The Middle East Baja Cup technically permits four of six, though it’s a moot point here since the schedule is currently only four rounds long.

While drivers can pick and choose which race to count for points, they can’t do so retroactively (like opting to count a race for points if they won afterward). The designation is made while signing up.

Featured image credit: Brigada Mecanizada