2019 Junior WRC Championship

The 2019 FIA Junior WRC Championship was the seventh season of Junior WRC, a rallying championship governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, running in support of the World Rally Championship.

2019 FIA Junior WRC Championship

Previous

2018

Next

2020

Parent series:
FIA World Rally Championship
FIA WRC2 Pro Championship
FIA WRC2 Championship

The championship was open to drivers under the age of thirty with no such restriction for co-drivers. Crews competed in identical one-litre Ford Fiesta R2s built and maintained by M-Sport. The championship was contested over five selected WRC rounds with the winning crew awarded a new Ford Fiesta R5 car, tyre package, free fuel and a registration to compete in the 2020 WRC3 Championship.^[a]

Jan Solans and Mauro Barreiro won the drivers' and co-drivers' championships, beating Tom Kristensson and Henrik Appelskog by eighteen points. In the Trophy of Nations, Sweden beat Spain by six point to become the inaugural winners.

Calendar

The final 2019 Junior WRC Championship calendar consisted of five events of the 2019 World Rally Championship.

Round	Dates		Rally	Rally headquarters	Rally details
	Start	Finish			Surface	Stages	Distance
1	14 February	17 February	Rally Sweden	Torsby, Värmland	Snow	19	316.80 km
2	28 March	31 March	Tour de Corse	Bastia, Haute-Corse	Tarmac	14	347.51 km
3	13 June	16 June	Rally Italia Sardegna	Alghero, Sardinia	Gravel	19	313.44 km
4	1 August	4 August	Rally Finland	Jyväskylä, Keski-Suomi	Gravel	23	307.58 km
5	3 October	6 October	Wales Rally GB	Deeside, Flintshire	Gravel	22	312.75 km
Source:[2][3]

Calendar changes

The 2019 calendar was heavily revised from the 2018 schedule. The championship dropped from six rounds to five.^[2] The Rallies of Portugal and Turkey were removed from the calendar, while events in Italy and Wales were added in their place.

Route changes

Organisers of the Tour de Corse announced plans for a new route, with up to three-quarters of the 2019 route being revised from the 2018 rally.^[4]

Entries

The following crews were entered into the championship:

Entrant	Drivers	Co-drivers	Rounds
ADAC Sachsen	Julius Tannert	Helmar Hinneberg	1
		Jürgen Heigl	2–4
ADAC Weiser-Ems	Nico Knacker	Tobias Braun	1
		Michael Wenzel	2, 4–5
		Anne Katharina Stein	3
Aleksi Röyhkiö	Aleksi Röyhkiö	Ville Mannisenmäki	4
Dennis Rådström	Dennis Rådström	Johan Johansson	All
Enrico Oldrati	Enrico Oldrati	Elia De Guio	All
Fabrizio Zaldívar	Fabrizio Zaldívar	Fernando Mussano	All
OT Racing	Ken Torn	Kuldar Sikk	1
		Kauri Pannas	2
Keanna Erickson-Chang	Keanna Erickson-Chang	Martin Brady	5
Rally Team Spain	Jan Solans	Mauro Barreiro	All
LMT Autosporta Akadēmija	Mārtiņš Sesks	Krišjānis Caune	1–4
Raul Badiu	Raul Badiu	Gabriel Lazăr	1–4
Roland Poom	Roland Poom	Ken Järveoja	1–2, 4–5
Ryan Booth	Ryan Booth	Rhianon Smyth-Gelsomino	5
Sean Johnston	Sean Johnston	Alex Kihurani	All
Team Flying Finn	Sami Pajari	Antti Haapala	4
Tom Kristensson	Tom Kristensson	Henrik Appelskog	All
Tom Williams	Tom Williams	Phil Hall	All
Source:[5][6][7][8][9]

Changes

All teams competed with an identical car built by M-Sport. The team announced that a new model of Ford Fiesta was introduced for 2019, one that was still built to R2 specifications, but featured a new engine and drivetrain. The new engine package was capable of producing 149 kW (199.8 bhp) of power, up from the 127 kW (170.3 bhp) produced by the engine used in 2018.^[10]

Crews were no longer eligible to score points in WRC3 as the series was discontinued in 2019.^[11]

Results and standings

Season summary

Round	Event	Winning driver	Winning co-driver	Nations' winner	Winning time	Report
1	Rally Sweden	Tom Kristensson	Henrik Appelskog	Sweden	3:14:48.9	Report
2	Tour de Corse	Julius Tannert	Jürgen Heigl	Germany	3:52:10.0	Report
3	Rally Italia Sardegna	Jan Solans	Mauro Barreiro	Spain	4:02:36.2	Report
4	Rally Finland	Tom Kristensson	Henrik Appelskog	Sweden	2:55:17.2	Report
5	Wales Rally GB	Jan Solans	Mauro Barreiro	Spain	3:30:05.0	Report

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers. An additional point is given for every stage win. The best 4 classification results count towards the drivers’ and co-drivers’ totals, but stage points from all 5 rounds can be retained. Classification points for the last event are doubled for the drivers’ and co-drivers’ championship, but only if they have started at least 3 of the previous Junior WRC rounds. ^[12] For the FIA Junior WRC Trophy of Nations, only the highest-placed driver from each event received points for their nation. ^[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 FRA ITA FIN GBR Drops Points 1 Jan Solans 31 46 112 25 17 12 139 2 Tom Kristensson 11 23 3 18 22 15 118 3 Dennis Rådström 812 31 26 Ret5 910 0 75 4 Sean Johnston 5 Ret Ret 5 3 0 50 5 Roland Poom 2 6 3 10 0 43 6 Enrico Oldrati 7 8 8 6 4 4 42 7 Julius Tannert 11 13 6 Ret1 0 37 8 Fabrizio Zaldívar 9 10 7 8 5 1 32 9 Tom Williams 4 5 Ret 10 8 0 31 10 Mārtiņš Sesks 63 Ret 5 92 0 25 11 Raul Badiu 13 7 4 Ret 0 18 12 Aleksi Röyhkiö 4 0 12 13 Nico Knacker 12 9 9 7 0 10 14 Ryan Booth 6 0 8 15 Keanna Erickson-Chang 7 0 6 16 Ken Torn 102 Ret 0 3 17 Sami Pajari Ret2 0 2 Pos. Driver SWE FRA ITA FIN GBR Drops Points Source:[12]

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)

FIA Junior WRC Championship for Co-Drivers

Pos. Co-Driver SWE FRA ITA FIN GBR Drops Points 1 Mauro Barreiro 31 46 112 25 17 12 139 2 Henrik Appelskog 11 23 3 18 22 15 118 3 Johan Johansson 812 31 26 Ret5 910 0 75 4 Alex Kihurani 5 Ret Ret 5 3 0 50 5 Ken Järveoja 2 6 3 10 0 43 6 Elia De Guio 7 8 8 6 4 4 42 7 Jürgen Heigl 13 6 Ret1 0 37 8 Fernando Mussano 9 10 7 8 5 1 32 9 Phil Hall 4 5 Ret 10 8 0 31 10 Krišjānis Caune 63 Ret 5 92 0 21 11 Gabriel Lazăr 13 7 4 Ret 0 18 12 Ville Mannisenmäki 4 0 12 13 Rhianon Smyth-Gelsomino 6 0 8 14 Michael Wenzel 9 7 0 8 15 Martin Brady 7 0 6 16 Krišjānis Caune 92 0 4 17 Kuldar Sikk 102 0 3 17 Anne Katharina Stein 9 0 2 18 Antti Haapala Ret2 0 2 Pos. Co-Driver SWE FRA ITA FIN GBR Drops Points Source:[12]

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)

FIA Junior WRC Championship Trophy for Nations

Pos. Nation SWE FRA ITA FIN GBR Points 1  Sweden 1 2 2 1 2 104 2  Spain 3 3 1 2 1 98 3  Estonia 2 5 3 7 49 4  Germany 9 1 5 7 43 5  Italy 7 7 7 6 4 38 6  United States 5 Ret Ret 5 3 35 7  United Kingdom 4 4 10 6 33 8  Paraguay 8 8 6 8 5 30 9  Romania 10 6 3 Ret 24 10  Latvia 6 Ret 4 9 22 11  Finland 4 12 Pos. Nation SWE FRA ITA FIN GBR Points Source:[12]

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

1. The prize was originally presented as registration to compete in the 2020 WRC2 Championship; however, the FIA restructured the support categories in October 2019 and the WRC2 for privateers became known as WRC3 for 2020.^[1]