The FIA Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC) is a complementary series to the World Rally Championship (WRC) as is the Production World Rally Championship (PWRC). As JWRC was originally envisioned as a series for developing drivers, it is limited to drivers below the age of 28. The series' main car specification is Super 1600 (S1600). The cars have restricted power and front wheel drive only, and are more competitive on tarmac, rather than on mixed surface or gravel rallies.

Like in the PWRC, the series' calendar includes about half of the WRC's events, and it is contested on the same stages. JWRC entrants race through the stages after the WRC competitors.

[edit] History

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena at the 2001 Rally Finland.

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 in his 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).

[edit] Rules

The cars in the Junior World Rally Championship are usually homologated in the Super 1600 class, but selected Group A and Group N specifications are also allowed to contest the series. In the 2008 season, the JWRC includes seven events, and the competitors must participate in six of them. The point-scoring system is the same as in the WRC and the PWRC, with points allocated to the top eight competitors as follows; 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.^[1]

The age limit for the JWRC is 28 years (at the start of the championship year). However, there is no age limit for co-drivers. From the 2008 season, all competitors are required to wear an FIA-approved head restraint, such as the HANS device.^[1] To reduce the costs of contesting the championship, the number of tyres in use in rallies and the number of mechanics allowed to work at service parks are limited. All competitors are also required to use the control fuel and the control tyre by Pirelli.^[1]

[edit] Champions

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

Year	Driver	Car
2009	Martin Prokop	Citroën C2 S1600
2008	Sébastien Ogier	Citroën C2 S1600
2007	Per-Gunnar Andersson	Suzuki Swift S1600
2006	Patrik Sandell	Renault Clio S1600
2005	Dani Sordo	Citroën C2 S1600
2004	Per-Gunnar Andersson	Suzuki Ignis S1600
2003	Brice Tirabassi	Renault Clio S1600
2002	Daniel Solà	Citroën Saxo VTS S1600
2001	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën Saxo VTS S1600

[edit] Gallery

François Duval driving a Ford Puma S1600 at the 2001 Rally Finland.	Sébastien Loeb driving his Citroën Saxo VTS S1600 in 2001.	Fiat Punto S1600 at the 2001 Rally Finland.	Renault Clio S1600 at the 2004 Rally Finland.
2004 Suzuki Ignis S1600 at an auto show in 2003.	Opel Corsa S1600 driven in 2005.	Suzuki Swift S1600 at the 2007 Rally Finland.	Ford Fiesta ST at the 2007 Wales Rally GB.
Jan Kopecký's Fiat Grande Punto S1600 at the 2008 Rally Mexico.	Sébastien Ogier with a Citroën C2 S1600 in Germany.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• JWRC at WRC.com