Junior WRC

Template:Short description Template:Infobox motorsport championship Template:World Rally Championship

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena at the 2001 Rally Finland.

File:Per-Gunnar Andersson - 2004 Rally Finland.jpg

P-G Andersson and Suzuki celebrating JWRC class victory at the 2004 Rally Finland.

The FIA Junior WRC Championship is an international rallying series restricted to drivers under 29 years old, running within the framework of the World Rally Championship. The series is governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and promoted by M-Sport Ltd.

Run annually since 2013, the championship is the latest in the FIA's junior driver category which began in 2001 with the Super 1600 Championship, the Junior World Rally Championship in 2002, and the WRC Academy in 2011. This category has been a stepping stone in the careers of WRC champions Sebastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier; plus leading drivers Dani Sordo, Elfyn Evans, Craig Breen and Thierry Neuville.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Junior WRC differs from the WRC support championships, WRC2 and WRC3, as the competition is managed and promoted by M-Sport under contract to the FIA. All cars are identical, provided and serviced by M-Sport on the entrants' behalf.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The car used since 2022 is the company's Ford Fiesta Rally3.<ref name="about">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The championship currently consists of five select rallies of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar. FIA Championship titles are awarded to the winning Driver and Co-Driver.

The FIA did not award Junior WRC champion titles in the 2022 season. Instead, the titles of FIA WRC3 Junior were awarded to the winners of the Junior WRC competition run by M-Sport.<ref name="about" /><ref name="driveday">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="newlook">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

HistoryEdit

The championship's origins began in 2001 as the FIA Super 1600 Drivers' Championship, and included six events in Europe. Sébastien Loeb was the series' champion, driving a Super 1600 Citroën Saxo.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The series became the Junior World Rally Championship the following year, with an upper age limit of 29 introduced in 2003.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2007, the championship did not include events outside Europe. Following introduction of an FIA rule in 2006 surrounding use of the word 'world' in championship names, the championship was known as the FIA Junior Rally Championship (JRC) for one season only. The 2010 season was the last Junior World Rally Championship.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2011, the FIA replaced the championship with the WRC Academy Cup. This was the first year the championship was managed under contract. M-Sport provided identical Ford Fiesta R2 cars for entrants to use.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2013 the series was renamed to FIA Junior WRC.<ref name="WRC 2 3 and J">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2014, Citroën were awarded the contract to run Junior WRC providing Citroën DS3 R3T cars.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> M-Sport repurposed the old Ford Fiesta R2 units for the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2017, M-Sport regained the running rights continuing to use the Ford Fiesta R2. Following the introduction of the Rally Pyramid in 2019, the latest evolution Ford Fiesta Rally4 was introduced for the second round of the 2020 season.

At the 2018 season the number of rallies were reduced to 5, while the last rally gives double points.

In March 2021 the FIA announced there will not be any two-wheel drive championships in WRC from 2022.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was later announced Rally3 cars would be used for Junior WRC from then on.<ref name="driveday"/><ref name="newlook"/> The FIA title for 2022 was called WRC3 Junior, however from 2023, FIA Junior WRC was restored.

RulesEdit

The Junior WRC is open to drivers under the age of 29 who have not competed as a Priority 1 (P1) driver in an FIA World Rally Championship event. Competitors drive identical Ford Fiesta Rally3 cars using Pirelli tyres. There is no obligation to enter a minimum number of rounds and all rounds contribute to the championship points tally.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The point-scoring system based on classification is the same as in the WRC, WRC2 and WRC3 championships, with points allocated to the top ten classified finishers as follows:

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Points	25	18	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1

The last rally in the season awards double classification points to competitors who have started at least 3 previous rounds. Power Stage points are not awarded in Junior WRC as in the other WRC championships, however JWRC competitors can score one championship bonus point for each stage win during the season.<ref name=":0" />

The Nations Trophy sums points of the best performing driver from each nation each round, not including stage points.<ref name=":0" />

ResultsEdit

Drivers' ChampionshipEdit

Year	Series name	Upper Age LimitTemplate:Efn	Champion	Car	2nd place	Car	3rd place	Car	Rounds
2001	FIA Super 1600 Championship for Drivers	n/a	Template:Flagicon Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Saxo VTS S1600	Template:Flagicon Andrea Dallavilla	Fiat Punto S1600	Template:Flagicon Niall McShea	Ford Puma S1600 Citroën Saxo VTS S1600	6
2002	FIA Junior World Rally Championship	n/a	Template:Flagicon Daniel Solà	Citroën Saxo VTS S1600	Template:Flagicon Andrea Dallavilla	Citroën Saxo VTS S1600	Template:Flagicon Janne Tuohino	Citroën Saxo VTS S1600	6
2003		29	Template:Flagicon Brice Tirabassi	Renault Clio S1600	Template:Flagicon Salvador Cañellas Jr.	Suzuki Ignis S1600	Template:Flagicon Daniel Carlsson	Suzuki Ignis S1600	7
2004			Template:Flagicon Per-Gunnar Andersson	Suzuki Ignis S1600	Template:Flagicon Nicolas Bernardi	Renault Clio S1600	Template:Flagicon Guy Wilks	Suzuki Ignis S1600	7
2005			Template:Flagicon Dani Sordo	Citroën C2 S1600	Template:Flagicon Kris Meeke	Citroën C2 S1600	Template:Flagicon Guy Wilks	Suzuki Ignis S1600	8
2006			Template:Flagicon Patrik Sandell	Renault Clio S1600	Template:Flagicon Urmo Aava	Suzuki Swift S1600	Template:Flagicon Per-Gunnar Andersson	Suzuki Swift S1600	9
2007	FIA Junior Rally Championship		Template:Flagicon Per-Gunnar Andersson	Suzuki Swift S1600	Template:Flagicon Urmo Aava	Suzuki Swift S1600	Template:Flagicon Martin Prokop	Citroën C2 S1600	7
2008	FIA Junior World Rally Championship		Template:Flagicon Sébastien Ogier	Citroën C2 S1600	Template:Flagicon Aaron Burkart	Citroën C2 S1600	Template:Flagicon Martin Prokop	Citroën C2 S1600	7
2009			Template:Flagicon Martin Prokop	Citroën C2 S1600	Template:Flagicon Michał Kościuszko	Suzuki Swift S1600	Template:Flagicon Aaron Burkart	Suzuki Swift S1600	8
2010			Template:Flagicon Aaron Burkart	Suzuki Swift S1600	Template:Flagicon Hans Weijs, Jr.	Citroën C2 S1600	Template:Flagicon Todor Slavov	Renault Clio R3	6
2011	WRC Academy Cup	25	Template:Flagicon Craig Breen	Ford Fiesta R2	Template:Flagicon Egon Kaur	Ford Fiesta R2	Template:Flagicon Alastair Fisher	Ford Fiesta R2	6
2012	WRC Academy Cup	25	Template:Flagicon Elfyn Evans	Ford Fiesta R2	Template:Flagicon José Antonio Suárez	Ford Fiesta R2	Template:Flagicon Pontus Tidemand	Ford Fiesta R2	6
2013	FIA Junior WRC	27	Template:Flagicon Pontus Tidemand	Ford Fiesta R2	Template:Flagicon Yeray Lemes	Ford Fiesta R2	Template:Flagicon Sander Pärn	Ford Fiesta R2	6
2014		28	Template:Flagicon Stéphane Lefebvre	Citroën DS3 R3T	Template:Flagicon Alastair Fisher	Citroën DS3 R3T	Template:Flagicon Martin Koči	Citroën DS3 R3T	6
2015			Template:Flagicon Quentin Gilbert	Citroën DS3 R3T	Template:Flagicon Ole Christian Veiby	Citroën DS3 R3T	Template:Flagicon Terry Folb	Citroën DS3 R3T	7
2016			Template:Flagicon Simone Tempestini	Citroën DS3 R3T	Template:Flagicon Martin Koči	Citroën DS3 R3T	Template:Flagicon Vincent Dubert	Citroën DS3 R3T	6
2017		29	Template:Flagicon Nil Solans	Ford Fiesta R2	Template:Flagicon Nicolas Ciamin	Ford Fiesta R2	Template:Flagicon Terry Folb	Ford Fiesta R2	6
2018			Template:Flagicon Emil Bergkvist	Ford Fiesta R2	Template:Flagicon Dennis Rådström	Ford Fiesta R2	Template:Flagicon Jean-Baptiste Franceschi	Ford Fiesta R2	5
2019			Template:Flagicon Jan Solans	Ford Fiesta R2	Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensson	Ford Fiesta R2	Template:Flagicon Dennis Rådström	Ford Fiesta R2	5
2020			Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensson	Ford Fiesta Rally4	Template:Flagicon Mārtiņš Sesks	Ford Fiesta Rally4	Template:Flagicon Sami Pajari	Ford Fiesta Rally4	4
2021			Template:Flagicon Sami Pajari	Ford Fiesta Rally4	Template:Flagicon Jon Armstrong	Ford Fiesta Rally4	Template:Flagicon Mārtiņš Sesks	Ford Fiesta Rally4	5
2022	FIA WRC3 Junior		Template:Flagicon Robert Virves	Ford Fiesta Rally3	Template:Flagicon Jon Armstrong	Ford Fiesta Rally3	Template:Flagicon Sami Pajari	Ford Fiesta Rally3	5
2023	FIA Junior WRC		Template:Flagicon William Creighton	Ford Fiesta Rally3	Template:Flagicon Diego Domínguez Jr.	Ford Fiesta Rally3	Template:Flagicon Laurent Pellier	Ford Fiesta Rally3	5
2024	FIA Junior WRC		Template:Flagicon Romet Jürgenson	Ford Fiesta Rally3	Template:Flagicon Norbert Maior	Ford Fiesta Rally3	Template:Flagicon Ali Türkkan	Ford Fiesta Rally3	5

StatisticsEdit

Updated after the 2024 season. Template:Col-begin Template:Col-break

Championships by driver's country

Template:Medals table Template:Col-break

Driver championships by manufacturer

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Round wins by driver<ref name=wins>{{#invoke: citation/CS1|citation

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	Driver	Total
1	Template:Flagicon Martin Prokop	9
2	Template:Flagicon Per-Gunnar Andersson	8
3	Template:Flagicon Quentin Gilbert	5
	Template:Flagicon Tom Kristensson	5
	Template:Flagicon Sébastien Loeb	5
	Template:Flagicon Guy Wilks	5
7	Template:Flagicon Elfyn Evans	4
	Template:Flagicon Alastair Fisher	4
	Template:Flagicon Sami Pajari	4
	Template:Flagicon Nil Solans	4
	Template:Flagicon Dani Sordo	4
	Template:Flagicon Simone Tempestini	4
	Template:Flagicon Brice Tirabassi	4
14	Template:Flagicon Jon Armstrong	3
	Template:Flagicon Egon Kaur	3
	Template:Flagicon Michał Kościuszko	3
	Template:Flagicon Stephane Lefebvre	3
	Template:Flagicon Sébastien Ogier	3
	Template:Flagicon Dani Solà	3
	Template:Flagicon Pontus Tidemand	3
21
	Template:Flagicon Taylor Gill	2
	Template:Flagicon Urmo Aava	2
	Template:Flagicon Kevin Abbring	2
	Template:Flagicon Mirco Baldacci	2
	Template:Flagicon Nicolas Bernardi	2
	Template:Flagicon Craig Breen	2
	Template:Flagicon Aaron Burkart	2
	Template:Flagicon Daniel Carlsson	2
	Template:Flagicon William Creighton	2
	Template:Flagicon Andrea Dallavilla	2
	Template:Flagicon Martin Koči	2
	Template:Flagicon Yeray Lemes	2
	Template:Flagicon Kris Meeke	2
	Template:Flagicon Dennis Rådström	2
	Template:Flagicon Patrik Sandell	2
	Template:Flagicon Mārtiņš Sesks	2
	Template:Flagicon Jan Solans	2
	Template:Flagicon José Antonio Suárez	2
	Template:Flagicon Julius Tannert	2
	Template:Flagicon Ole Christian Veiby	2
	Template:Flagicon Hans Weijs, Jr	2
	Template:Flagicon Diego Dominguez Jr	2
42	Template:Flagicon Andreas Amberg	1
	Template:Flagicon Jérémi Ancian	1
	Template:Flagicon Emil Bergkvist	1
	Template:Flagicon Nicolas Ciamin	1
	Template:Flagicon François Duval	1
	Template:Flagicon Jean-Baptiste Franceschi	1
	Template:Flagicon Mille Johanson	1
	Template:Flagicon Lauri Joona	1
	Template:Flagicon Romet Jürgenson	1
	Template:Flagicon Kosti Katajamäki	1
	Template:Flagicon Eamonn Kelly	1
	Template:Flagicon Norbert Maior	1
	Template:Flagicon Jaan Mölder jr.	1
	Template:Flagicon Grégoire Munster	1
	Template:Flagicon Thierry Neuville	1
	Template:Flagicon Laurent Pellier	1
	Template:Flagicon Ken Torn	1
	Template:Flagicon Janne Tuohino	1
	Template:Flagicon Robert Virves	1
	Total		148

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GalleryEdit

S16 fd ford.jpg

François Duval driving a Ford Puma S1600 at the 2001 Rally Finland.
S16 sl citroen.jpg

Sébastien Loeb driving his Citroën Saxo VTS S1600 in 2001.
S16 ad fiat.jpg

Fiat Punto S1600 at the 2001 Rally Finland.
Nicolas Bernardi - 2004 Rally Finland.jpg

Renault Clio S1600 at the 2004 Rally Finland.
Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 (JWRC Saison 2004).jpg

2004 Suzuki Ignis S1600 at an auto show in 2003.
Saxony rally racing Opel Corsa Super 1600 14 (aka).jpg

Opel Corsa S1600 driven in 2005.
Tapio Suominen Rally Finland.jpg

Suzuki Swift S1600 at the 2007 Rally Finland.
Elfyn Evans-2007 Wales Rally GB 001.jpg

Ford Fiesta ST at the 2007 Wales Rally GB.
Sébastien Ogier - 2008 Rallye Deutschland 3.jpg

Sébastien Ogier with a Citroën C2 S1600 in 2008 Rallye Deutschland.
Martin Prokop - 2009 Cyprus Rally 2.jpg

Martin Prokop with a Citroën C2 S1600 at the 2009 Cyprus Rally.