2023 Junior WRC Championship

The 2023 FIA Junior WRC Championship was the tenth season of Junior WRC, a rallying championship governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, running in support of the World Rally Championship. The championship featured five events, beginning in February at the Rally Sweden and concluded in September at the Acropolis Rally.

Robert Virves and Brian Hoy were the reigning drivers' and co-drivers' champions.[1][a] William Creighton and Liam Regan became the 2023 Junior WRC Champions.[2]

Calendar

A map showing the locations of the rallies in the 2023 Junior WRC Championship. Click on the dot to see the rally details.
Round Start date Finish date Rally Rally headquarters Surface Stages Distance Ref.
1 9 February 12 February Sweden Rally Sweden Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden Snow 18 325.02 km [3]
2 20 April 23 April Croatia Croatia Rally Zagreb, Croatia Tarmac 20 301.26 km [4]
3 1 June 4 June Italy Rally Italia Sardegna Olbia, Sardinia, Italy Gravel 19 334.05 km [5]
4 20 July 23 July Estonia Rally Estonia Tartu, Tartu County, Estonia Gravel 21 300.70 km [6]
5 7 September 10 September Greece Acropolis Rally Greece Lamia, Central Greece, Greece Gravel 15 270.89 km [7]
Sources:[8]

Entries

The following crews entered into the Junior WRC Championship:

Car Driver name Co-driver name Rounds
Ford Fiesta Rally3 Kenya Hamza Anwar Kenya Adnan Din 1, 3
Republic of Ireland Martin Brady 2
United States Alexander Kihurani 4
Sweden Julia Thulin 5
Spain Roberto Blach Spain Mauro Barreiro All
Bolivia Nataniel Bruun Sosa Argentina Claudio Bustos 5
Republic of Ireland William Creighton Republic of Ireland Liam Regan All
Paraguay Diego Dominguez Jr. Spain Rogelio Peñate All
Spain Raúl Hernández Spain Rodrigo Sanjuan 1–2
Spain Adrián Pérez Fernández 3
Republic of Ireland Eamonn Kelly Republic of Ireland Conor Mohan All
Luxembourg Grégoire Munster Belgium Louis Louka 1, 4
France Laurent Pellier France Marine Pelamourgues 1–2
France Kévin Bronner 3–5
Belgium Tom Rensonnet Belgium Loïc Dumont All
Sources:[9][10][11][12]

Sporting Regulations

The Junior WRC was open for drivers born on or after 1 January 1994 and had not competed as a priority 1 (P1) driver designated to score Manufacturer points before the first JWRC round, no such restrictions were set for co-drivers.[13] All crews once again contested identical Ford Fiesta Rally3 cars prepared by the M-Sport Poland for the winning prize of four fully-funded Ford Fiesta Rally2 drives with a tyre package and a pre-event test.[14]

Results and standings

Season summary

Round Event Winning driver Winning co-driver Winning time Report Ref.
1 Sweden Rally Sweden Republic of Ireland William Creighton Republic of Ireland Liam Regan 2:45:05.5 Report [15]
2 Croatia Croatia Rally Republic of Ireland Eamonn Kelly Republic of Ireland Conor Mohan 3:20:15.7 Report [16]
3 Italy Rally Italia Sardegna Republic of Ireland William Creighton Republic of Ireland Liam Regan 4:15:11.5 Report [17]
4 Estonia Rally Estonia Luxembourg Grégoire Munster Belgium Louis Louka 2:57:42.6 Report [18]
5 Greece Acropolis Rally Greece Paraguay Diego Dominguez Jr. Spain Rogelio Peñate 3:24:38.9 Report [19]

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers. An additional point was given for every stage win. The best four results out of five counted towards the final drivers’ and co-drivers’ standings. However, all points gained from stage wins were retained. Double points were awarded at the season's finale to those with at least 3 previous 2023 JWRC round starts. [13]

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

FIA Junior WRC Championship for Drivers

Pos. Driver SWE
Sweden
CRO
Croatia
ITA
Italy
EST
Estonia
GRC
Greece
Total
Points
Best 4
1 Republic of Ireland William Creighton 19 710 14 711 54 120 114
2 Paraguay Diego Dominguez Jr. 3 4 22 32 14 118 106
3 France Laurent Pellier 26 Ret5 45 23 64 87 87
4 Republic of Ireland Eamonn Kelly Ret 1 6 Ret 2 69 69
5 Spain Roberto Blach 6 33 3 4 4 77 69
6 Belgium Tom Rensonnet 7 22 5 6 3 74 68
7 Luxembourg Grégoire Munster 43 15 45 45
8 Spain Raúl Hernández 5 6 75 29 29
9 Kenya Hamza Anwar 8 5 8 5 Ret 28 28
10 Bolivia Nataniel Bruun Sosa Ret 0 0
Pos. Driver SWE
Sweden
CRO
Croatia
ITA
Italy
EST
Estonia
GRC
Greece
Total
Points
Best 4
Source:[20][21][22]
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Black Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry from
the event (WD)

Notes:
Superscripts indicate the number of bonus points that drivers received for winning stages during each rally.

FIA Junior WRC Championship for Co-Drivers

Pos. Co-Driver SWE
Sweden
CRO
Croatia
ITA
Italy
EST
Estonia
GRC
Greece
Total
Points
Best 4
1 Republic of Ireland Liam Regan 19 710 14 711 54 120 114
2 Spain Rogelio Peñate 3 4 22 32 14 118 106
3 Republic of Ireland Conor Mohan Ret 1 6 Ret 2 69 69
4 Spain Mauro Barreiro 6 33 3 4 4 77 69
5 Belgium Loïc Dumont 7 22 5 6 3 74 68
6 France Kévin Bronner 45 23 64 58 58
7 Belgium Louis Louka 43 15 45 45
8 France Marine Pelamourgues 26 Ret5 29 29
9 Spain Rodrigo Sanjuan 5 6 18 18
10 Spain Adrián Pérez Fernández 75 11 11
11 Republic of Ireland Martin Brady 5 10 10
12 United States Alexander Kihurani 5 10 10
13 Kenya Adnan Din 8 8 8 8
14 Sweden Julia Thulin Ret 0 0
15 Argentina Claudio Bustos Ret 0 0
Pos. Co-Driver SWE
Sweden
CRO
Croatia
ITA
Italy
EST
Estonia
GRC
Greece
Total
Points
Best 4
Source:[23][21][22]
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Black Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry from
the event (WD)

Notes:
Superscripts indicate the number of bonus points that drivers received for winning stages during each rally.

Notes

  1. ^ The FIA's junior category titles were awarded as part of the 2022 WRC3 Championship.

References

  1. ^ "Virves crowned FIA Junior WRC champion". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 11 September 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Irishman Creighton crowned FIA Junior WRC champion*". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 10 September 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Itinerary Rally Sweden 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Itinerary Rally Croatia Rally 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Itinerary Rally Italia Sardegna 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  6. ^ "Itinerary Rally Estonia 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Itinerary EKO Acropolis Rally 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  8. ^ "FIA World Rally Championship calendar for 2023 gets green light". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Fresh look for Junior WRC: Full 2023 line-up confirmed". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Entry List Rallye Sweden 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Entry List Rally Italia Sardegna 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Entry List WRC Rally Estonia 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  13. ^ a b "2023 FIA World Rally Championship – Sporting regulations" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 15 December 2022. p. 104. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Junior WRC reveal five-stop 2023 calendar". wrc.com. 28 November 2022.
  15. ^ "Comeback king Creighton edges Pellier in junior WRC snowdown". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 27 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  16. ^ "Kelly ignites title bid with junior WRC triumph". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 23 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  17. ^ "Victorious Creighton strengthens junior title bid in Italy". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  18. ^ "Munster victory sets up final round thriller in Junior WRC". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  19. ^ "Irishman Creighton crowned FIA Junior WRC champion*". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 10 September 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  20. ^ "Junior WRC Driver standings 2023". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  21. ^ a b "Standings". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  22. ^ a b "JWRC - Season 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  23. ^ "Junior WRC Co-Driver standings 2023". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. Retrieved 9 October 2023.