2021 Junior WRC Championship explained

The 2021 FIA Junior WRC Championship was the ninth 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 was open to drivers under the age of thirty—although no such restriction existed for co-drivers—competing in identical one-litre Ford Fiesta R2s built and maintained by M-Sport.[1] [2] The championship began in April 2021 at the Croatia Rally.

Tom Kristensson and Joakim Sjöberg were the defending drivers' and co-drivers' champions while Sweden was the defending Nations' Trophy winner. Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen became the first Finnish crew to win the championship. Finland took the Nations' Trophy victory.

The FIA Junior WRC Championship titles were not awarded in 2022, with WRC3 Junior titles taking their place. However, FIA Junior WRC titles would make a return in 2023.

Calendar

The following events were included in the 2021 Junior WRC Championship. Each event was taken from the 2021 World Rally Championship calendar.

RoundnowrapStart datenowrapFinish dateRallyRally headquartersSurfaceStagesDistanceRef.
122 April25 Aprilnowrap Croatia RallynowrapZagreb, City of Zagreb RegionTarmac20300.32 km[3]
220 May23 May Rally de PortugalMatosinhos, PortoGravel20337.51 km[4]
315 July18 July Rally EstoniaTartu, Tartu CountyGravel24319.38 km[5]
4nowrap13 August 15 August Ypres Rally BelgiumYpres, West FlandersTarmac20295.78 km[6]
5nowrap14 October17 Octobernowrap RACC Rally Catalunya de EspañaSalou, CataloniaTarmac19306.50 km[7]
Source:[8]

Calendar changes

Rally Croatia made its championship début.[9] The Ypres Rally also made its début, replacing Rally GB. Rally Catalunya returned to the schedule after being removed from the 2020 calendar before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the championship. Rally Italia Sardegna was removed from the calendar. Rally Sweden was omitted from the Junior WRC Championship calendar before it was removed from the wider World Rally Championship schedule. The Rally Monza was also removed from the calendar as it was only included on the 2020 schedule in response to the pandemic.

Entries

The following crews competed in the championship:

EntrantDriverCo-driverRounds
Team Flying Finn Lauri Joonanowrap Ari Koponen1–2
nowrap Mikael Korhonen3–5
LMT Autosporta Akademija Mārtiņš Sesks Renārs FrancisAll
Porvoon Autopalvelu Sami Pajari Marko SalminenAll
Autosport Team Estonia Robert Virves Sander Pruul1–3
Aleks Lesk4–5
Raul Badiu Raul Badiu Rareș Fetean1–3
Jon Armstrong Jon Armstrong Phil HallAll
Styllex Motorsport Martin Koči Petr Těšínský1–3
Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy William Creighton Liam ReganAll
Source:[10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

Results and standing

Season summary

RoundEventnowrapWinning drivernowrapWinning co-drivernowrapWinning timenowrapReportRef.
1 Croatia Rally Jon Armstrong Phil Hall3:15:07.6Report[15]
2 Rally de Portugal Mārtiņš Sesks Renārs Francis4:15:52.7Report[16]
3 Rally Estonia Sami Pajari Marko Salminen3:19:03.2Report[17]
4 Ypres Rally Belgium Jon Armstrong Phil Hall2:51:55.4Report[18]
5 RACC Rally Catalunya de España Sami Pajari Marko Salminen2:58:02.5Report[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 for drivers' championship at the season's finale.

nowrapPosition 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th 
Points251815121086421

FIA Junior WRC Championship for Drivers

DriverCRO
POR
EST
BEL
ESP
Total
Points
Best 4
1 Sami Pajari6922192214145137
2 Jon Armstrong12Ret6251747119119
3 Mārtiņš Sesks213366269385
4 Lauri Joona31644428880
5 Robert Virves7373357871
6 William Creighton55657516658
7 Martin Koči4344Ret33434
8 Raul Badiu83Ret51717
DriverCRO
POR
EST
BEL
ESP
Total
Points
Best 4

FIA Junior WRC Championship for Co-Drivers

Co-DriverCRO
POR
EST
BEL
ESP
Total
Points
Best 4
1 Marko Salminen6922192214120112
2 Phil Hall12Ret6251747107107
3 Renārs Francis213366268577
4 Liam Regan55657515648
5 Mikael Korhonen4424242
6 Aleks Lesk3353535
7 Petr Těšínský4344Ret33434
8 Ari Koponen31642828
9 Sander Pruul7372727
10 Rareș Fetean83Ret51717
Co-DriverCRO
POR
EST
BEL
ESP
Total
Points
Best 4

FIA Junior WRC Trophy for Nations

Co-DriverCRO
POR
EST
BEL
ESP
Points
132121101
21Ret21383
32135578
46363264
55554454
644Ret24
77Ret418
Co-DriverCRO
POR
EST
BEL
ESP
Points

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: FIA Junior WRC championship goes global in 2020. 29 October 2019. fia.com. Federation Internationale de l'Automobile.
  2. Web site: Superb entry for Junior opener. wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH.
  3. Web site: Itinerary Croatia Rally 2021. eWRC-results.com. 13 February 2021.
  4. Web site: Itinerary Rally de Portugal 2021. eWRC-results.com. 12 May 2021.
  5. Web site: Itinerary Rally Estonia 2021. eWRC-results.com. 3 May 2021.
  6. Web site: Itinerary Renties Ypres Rally Belgium 2021. eWRC-results.com. 8 April 2021.
  7. Web site: Itinerary RallyRACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada 2021. eWRC-results.com. 9 July 2021.
  8. Web site: Five rounds named in junior WRC calendar. wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 28 January 2021. 28 January 2021.
  9. Web site: Sancho. Fernando. 24 December 2020. El Rally de Croacia sera valedero para el Junior WRC en 2021. 2 January 2021. motor.es.
  10. Web site: Entry List Croatia Rally 2021. eWRC-results.com. 9 April 2021.
  11. Web site: Entry List Vodafone Rally de Portugal 2021. eWRC-results.com. 30 April 2021.
  12. Web site: Entry List Rally Estonia 2021. eWRC-results.com. 23 June 2021.
  13. Web site: Entry List Ypres Rally Belgium 2021. eWRC-results.com. 30 July 2021.
  14. Web site: Entry List RallyRACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada 2021. eWRC-results.com. 14 October 2021.
  15. News: Junior WRC: Armstrong seals maiden victory. wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 25 April 2021. 26 April 2021.
  16. News: Junior WRC: Sesks soars to championship lead. wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 23 May 2021. 24 May 2021.
  17. News: Pajari bags maiden junior win. wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 18 July 2021. 19 July 2021.
  18. News: Junior WRC: Armstrong blasts to Ypres glory. wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 15 August 2021. 17 August 2021.
  19. News: Pajari crowned FIA Junior WRC champion. wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 17 October 2021. 19 October 2021.