Junior WRC

FIA Junior WRC
CategoryGroup Rally3
CountryInternational
Inaugural season2001
Drivers' championRepublic of Ireland William Creighton
Co-Drivers' championRepublic of Ireland Liam Regan
Official websitewww.wrc.com
Current season
World Rally
Championship
 
Current season
Support categories
Current car classes
Related lists
Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena at the 2001 Rally Finland.
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.[1][2][3][4]

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.[5][6] The car used since 2022 is the company's Ford Fiesta Rally3.[7] 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.[7][8][9]

  1. ^ "Exciting Junior WRC Calendar revealed for 2023". Irish Motor Sports News. 2022-12-01. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  2. ^ "Armstrong's 'underdog' road to Junior WRC fight". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  3. ^ Barry, Luke (2021-03-29). "The Junior WRC stars worth watching in 2021". DirtFish. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  4. ^ "Exciting 2023 calendar revealed for FIA Junior WRC Championship - automobilsport.com". www.automobilsport.com. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  5. ^ "M-SPORT REVEALS NEW JUNIOR WRC R2 CAR".
  6. ^ "JUNIOR WRC". M-Sport. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  7. ^ a b "Junior WRC". WRC - World Rally Championship. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  8. ^ "APPLICATIONS OPEN FOR JUNIOR WRC DRIVE DAY".
  9. ^ "NEW-LOOK CALENDAR TEMPTS JUNIOR WRC HOTSHOTS".