Junior World Rally Championship

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 renamed 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. In 2014, competitors drive in identical Citroën DS3 R3Ts using Michelin 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 
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

P-G Andersson and Suzuki celebrating JWRC class victory at the 2004 Rally Finland.
Year Series name 1st Car 2nd Car 3rd Car
2016 Junior World Rally Championship Romania Simone Tempestini Citroën DS3 R3T Slovakia Martin Koči Citroën DS3 R3T France Vincent Dubert Citroën DS3 R3T
2015 France Quentin Gilbert Citroën DS3 R3T Norway Ole Christian Veiby Citroën DS3 R3T France Terry Folb Citroën DS3 R3T
2014 France Stéphane Lefebvre Citroën DS3 R3T United Kingdom Alastair Fisher Citroën DS3 R3T Slovakia Martin Koči Citroën DS3 R3T
2013 Sweden Pontus Tidemand Ford Fiesta R2 Spain Yeray Lemes Ford Fiesta R2 Estonia Sander Pärn Ford Fiesta R2
2012 WRC Academy United Kingdom Elfyn Evans Ford Fiesta R2 Spain José Antonio Suárez Ford Fiesta R2 Sweden Pontus Tidemand Ford Fiesta R2
2011 Republic of Ireland Craig Breen Ford Fiesta R2 Estonia Egon Kaur Ford Fiesta R2 United Kingdom Alastair Fisher Ford Fiesta R2
2010 Junior World Rally Championship Germany Aaron Burkart Suzuki Swift S1600 Netherlands Hans Weijs, Jr. Citroën C2 S1600 Bulgaria Todor Slavov Renault Clio R3
2009 Czech Republic Martin Prokop Citroën C2 S1600 Poland Michał Kościuszko Suzuki Swift S1600 Germany Aaron Burkart Suzuki Swift S1600
2008 France Sébastien Ogier Citroën C2 S1600 Germany Aaron Burkart Citroën C2 S1600 Czech Republic Martin Prokop Citroën C2 S1600
2007 FIA Junior Rally Championship Sweden Per-Gunnar Andersson Suzuki Swift S1600 Estonia Urmo Aava Suzuki Swift S1600 Czech Republic Martin Prokop Citroën C2 S1600
2006 Junior World Rally Championship Sweden Patrik Sandell Renault Clio S1600 Estonia Urmo Aava Suzuki Swift S1600 Sweden Per-Gunnar Andersson Suzuki Swift S1600
2005 Spain Dani Sordo Citroën C2 S1600 United Kingdom Kris Meeke Citroën C2 S1600 United Kingdom Guy Wilks Suzuki Ignis S1600
2004 Sweden Per-Gunnar Andersson Suzuki Ignis S1600 France Nicolas Bernardi Renault Clio S1600 United Kingdom Guy Wilks Suzuki Ignis S1600
2003 France Brice Tirabassi Renault Clio S1600 Spain Salvador Cañellas Jr. Suzuki Ignis S1600 Sweden Daniel Carlsson Suzuki Ignis S1600
2002 Spain Daniel Solà Citroën Saxo VTS S1600 Italy Andrea Dallavilla Citroën Saxo VTS S1600 Finland Janne Tuohino Citroën Saxo VTS S1600
2001 FIA Cup for Super 1600 Drivers France Sébastien Loeb Citroën Saxo VTS S1600 Italy Andrea Dallavilla Fiat Punto S1600 United Kingdom Niall McShea Ford Puma S1600
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

See also

References

  1. "Exciting changes for 2013 WRC". WRC.com. WRC Official Website. 21 September 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
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