Paweł Korpuliński Wins Drift Masters Round 5 in Riga, Extends Championship Lead
The Polish driver beat breakout finalist Kevin Piskolty at Bikernieku Trase to open a 52-point gap atop the 2026 Drift Masters European Championship standings.
Paweł Korpuliński won Round 5 of the 2026 Drift Masters European Championship at Bikernieku Trase in Riga, Latvia, holding off a hard-charging Kevin Piskolty in the final to take his second career series victory. The event, held July 24-25, marked the tenth anniversary of Drift Masters competition at the Latvian circuit, and it produced one of the more unpredictable finishing orders of the season alongside the tightest title fight the series has seen in months.
Korpuliński's run to the final went through several of the grid's most established names, and he closed the weekend with 104 points on the day. In the final, he kept his line through the closing exchanges against Piskolty to seal the win, according to the official Drift Masters recap. Conor Falvey rounded out the podium in third, marking his first podium finish at the Riga round.
The story of the weekend, though, belonged to Piskolty. Starting seventh after qualifying, he worked through a difficult bracket — eliminating Mika Keski-Korpi, Jakub Przygoński, Oliver Randalu and Falvey along the way — to reach his first-ever Drift Masters final and secure his first career podium, even in defeat. Series organizers called it the clearest sign yet that Piskolty can compete at the front of the championship on a consistent basis.
Piotr Więcek, who had qualified first at Riga for a sixth time, was eliminated by Korpuliński in the semifinal — his first competitive loss to the Pole. Więcek then suffered a heavy crash during the third-place playoff battle; organizers confirmed afterward that he was unhurt. Elsewhere in the bracket, wildcard entrant Siim Oskar Haal made a notable series debut, eliminating Dawid Sposób to reach the Great 8, while Lauri Heinonen was described by organizers as showing his most confident form of the season.
The result widens Korpuliński's lead at the top of the championship table. He now holds 382 points, 52 clear of Więcek in second (330), with James Deane third on 298, Conor Shanahan fourth on 274 and Jack Shanahan fifth on 244. In the parallel Nations Championship, Ireland leads Poland by 48 points heading into the second half of the season.
Round 5 was the last stop before Drift Masters heads to Ferropolis in Dessau, Germany, for Round 6 on August 13-15, with two rounds remaining after that before the championship is decided. With Korpuliński opening real distance in the standings and Piskolty now a confirmed final-round threat, the German round arrives as one of the more consequential stops on the 2026 calendar.
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