Junior World Rally Championship
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The FIA Junior World Rally Championship (also known as the Junior WRC) is a complementary series to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) and is specifically aimed at offering young drivers a chance to gain experience and notoriety at an affordable cost. The category has been a stepping stone in the career of many current WRC drivers including Sébastien Loeb, Dani Sordo, Sébastien Ogier, Jari-Matti Latvala and Thierry Neuville.
History
The championship was first held in 2001 as the FIA Super 1600 Drivers' Championship, and included six events in Europe. Sébastien Loeb became the series' first champion, driving a Super 1600-class Citroën Saxo. The series became the Junior World Rally Championship the following year.
In 2007, the championship did not include events outside Europe, and was known as the FIA Junior Rally Championship (JRC) for one season only. In 2011, the FIA replaced the Junior WRC with WRC Academy, a single specification championship running Ford Fiesta R2 vehicles. In September 2012 [1] it was announced by the FIA that the WRC Academy would be re-named the FIA Junior WRC Championship.
Rules
The Junior WRC is open to drivers under the age of twenty-six have not competed as a Priority 1 (P1) driver in an FIA World Rally Championship event. Competitors drive identical Ford Fiesta R2 prepared and maintained by British rally team M-Sport. Based on the Ford Fiesta sport model, the 2WD cars are built from a standard conversion kit with a 165hp engine, upgraded to enhance performance. A full safety cage, five-speed sequential gearbox with limited slip differential, AP brakes and Reiger suspension complete the build. To further encourage equal competition and showcase the ability of each individual competitor, every Fiesta will be fitted with control tyres.
The point-scoring system is the same as in the WRC, WRC-2 and WRC-3 championships, with points allocated to the top ten classified finshers as follows:
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
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Points | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
Unlike the other categories however, Junior WRC competitors score championship bonus points for each stage win during the season.
Champions
Year | Series name | Driver | Car |
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2013 | Junior World Rally Championship | Pontus Tidemand | Ford Fiesta R2 |
2012 | WRC Academy | Elfyn Evans | Ford Fiesta R2 |
2011 | Craig Breen | Ford Fiesta R2 | |
2010 | Junior World Rally Championship | Aaron Burkart | Suzuki Swift S1600 |
2009 | Martin Prokop | Citroën C2 S1600 | |
2008 | Sébastien Ogier | Citroën C2 S1600 | |
2007 | FIA Junior Rally Championship | Per-Gunnar Andersson | Suzuki Swift S1600 |
2006 | Junior World Rally Championship | Patrik Sandell | Renault Clio S1600 |
2005 | Dani Sordo | Citroën C2 S1600 | |
2004 | Per-Gunnar Andersson | Suzuki Ignis S1600 | |
2003 | Brice Tirabassi | Renault Clio S1600 | |
2002 | Daniel Solà | Citroën Saxo VTS S1600 | |
2001 | FIA Cup for Super 1600 Drivers | Sébastien Loeb | Citroën Saxo VTS S1600 |
The 2011 and 2012 championships were run as the FIA WRC Academy.
The 2007 championship was run as the FIA Junior Rally Championship.
The 2001 championship was run as the FIA Cup for Super 1600 Drivers.
Wins
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Gallery
See also
References
External links
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