Road racing series faces major calendar woes ahead of big rules shake-up

The International Road Racing Championship is facing major calendar headaches for the 2026 season, as it gets set to embark on a major regulation shift.

The IRRC announced last year that it would be replacing its flagship Superbike class with Supertwin machinery from the 2026 season.

The series cited safety concerns and costs of running Superbike machinery for competitors as the main driving force behind this change.

However, the IRRC’s new era is already facing major hurdles, after the championship announced that two rounds have been cancelled.

The iconic former grand prix venue at Imatra, in Finland, has been removed from the calendar due to the local federation not including the event on its national calendar.

The series has also seen is Schleiz round scrapped by the organiser “without prior consultation”.

This means the calendar is now set to feature just four rounds, though the IRRC is evaluating options for a fifth event in mid-June.

A full statement from the IRRC read: “We would like to inform you of several important changes to the IRRC 2026 calendar.

“Two races have been removed from the championship calendar:

Imatra

“The Finnish federation has decided not to include this event in the Finnish national calendar for 2026. As a result, the race will no longer be supported by the federation and our riders’ licenses would not be valid for this event. Unfortunately, this leaves us no option but to cancel the Imatra round.

Schleiz

“The event organiser has unexpectedly terminated cooperation unilaterally, without our prior consultation. We regret that this long-standing collaboration has come to an end in this manner.”

“With these changes, the IRRC currently consists of four races. We are actively working to add a fifth round on 13-14 June 2026. A final decision is expected by the end of this week.

“Due to the revised calendar, the entry fee may be adjusted. We will provide further updates in the coming days. Thank you for your understanding and continued support of the IRRC.”

The 2026 IRRC is due to begin on 2-3 May at Hengelo in the Netherlands, followed by Chimay in Belgium on 25-26 July.

The remaining events are currently the Czech round in Horice on 8-9 August and Frohburg, Germany, on 19-20 September.