The 2017 FIA Junior WRC Championship was the fifth 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 born after 1 January 1988, although no such restriction existed for co-drivers. They competed in identical one-litre Ford Fiesta R2s built and maintained by M-Sport, with DMACK tyres. Crews were also eligible to score points in WRC3. The championship was competed over six European WRC rounds. Nil Solans was crowned champion at the end of the season.

Calendar

The final 2017 Junior WRC Championship calendar consisted of six European events, taken from the 2017 World Rally Championship.

RoundDatesRally nameRally headquartersRally details
StartFinishSurfaceStagesDistance
17 April9 AprilFrance Tour de CorseBastia, Haute-CorseTarmac10316.76 km
29 June11 JuneItaly Rally Italia SardegnaAlghero, SardiniaGravel19312.66 km
330 June2 JulyPoland Rally PolandMikołajki, Warmia-MasuriaGravel23318.47 km
428 July30 JulyFinland Rally FinlandJyväskylä, Keski-SuomiGravel25314.20 km
518 August20 AugustGermany Rallye DeutschlandTrier, Rhineland-PalatinateTarmac21309.17 km
66 October8 OctoberSpain Rally CatalunyaSalou, TarragonaMixed19312.02 km
Source:

Entries

The following crews competed in the championship.

DriversCo-driversRounds
Bolivia Sebastian CareagaArgentina Claudio Bustos1
Spain Rodrigo Sanjuan2–3
France Nicolas CiaminFrance Thibault de la Haye1–6
Republic of Ireland Robert DugganRepublic of Ireland Gerard Conway1
United Kingdom Tom Woodburn2
France Terry FolbFrance Christopher Guieu1–6
Finland Emil LindholmFinland Tomi Tuominen3–4
Estonia Miko-Ove NiinemaëEstonia Martin Valter1–2
Sweden Dennis RådströmSweden Johan Johansson1–4, 6
Spain Nil SolansSpain Miquel Ibáñez1–6
Germany Julius TannertAustria Jürgen Heigl1–6
Belgium William WagnerFrance Kévin Parent1
United States Dillon van WayUnited Kingdom Dai Roberts1–4
Source:

Regulation changes

The series will change from using Citroën DS3 R3Ts with Michelin tyres, to use Ford Fiesta R2 prepared by M-Sport with DMACK tyres.

The championship will also adopt the prize format of the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy in which the season will be divided into "stages" and a prize awarded to the top-placed driver in each stage (contrary to the previous Junior WRC Championship, in which there was only one prize). The driver with most points after the first two rallies will be awarded two drives in the 2018 WRC2 in a Ford Fiesta R5. The driver with most points scored in the second pair of rallies will win an equal prize, as will the top-placed driver in the third pair of rallies. Additionally, an extra prize drive will be awarded to the overall winner of the category.

Season report

The season started with the Tour de Corse where Nil Solans won the event from start to finish. After building a lead of more than 40 seconds in the first Leg, he managed he was chased by local Terry Folb, until a driveshaft problem made him lost his second place to fellow Frenchman Nicolas Ciamin.

Results and standings

Season summary

RoundEvent nameWinning driverWinning co-driverWinning timeReport
1France Tour de CorseSpain Nil SolansSpain Miquel Ibáñez3:53:44.4Report
2Italy Rally Italia SardegnaSpain Nil SolansSpain Miquel Ibáñez4:00:07.8Report
3Poland Rally PolandSpain Nil SolansSpain Miquel Ibáñez3:17:47.0Report
4Finland Rally FinlandFrance Nicolas CiaminFrance Thibault de la Haye2:57:23.4Report
5Germany Rallye DeutschlandGermany Julius TannertAustria Jürgen Heigl3:30:54.4Report
6Spain Rally CatalunyaSpain Nil SolansSpain Miquel Ibáñez3:29:02.3Report

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers. An additional point is given for every stage win. The best 5 classification results count towards the drivers’ and co-drivers’ totals, but stage points from all 6 rounds can be retained.

Position1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th
Points251815121086421

FIA Junior WRC Championship for Drivers

Pos.DriverFRA FranceITA ItalyPOL PolandFIN FinlandGER GermanyESP SpainDropsPoints
Pos. Driver FRA France ITA Italy POL Poland FIN Finland GER Germany ESP Spain Drops Points 1 Spain Nil Solans 1+4 1+8 1+9 2+5 2+4 1+10 18 158 2 France Nicolas Ciamin 2+2 2+4 3 1+11 3+10 5+7 10 125 3 France Terry Folb 3+4 4+2 4+5 Ret+4 4+7 2+1 0 92 4 Germany Julius Tannert 4 3 5 4+1 1 3 10 80 5 Sweden Dennis Rådström 5 5+1 2+6 3+4 4+1 0 77 6 United States Dillon Van Way 8 7 6 5 WD 0 28 7 Republic of Ireland Robert Duggan 6 6+4 WD 0 20 8 Bolivia Sebastian Careaga 7 8 7 WD WD 0 16 9 Finland Emil Lindholm 8+1 Ret+1 0 6 10 Estonia Miko-Ove Niinemäe 9 Ret WD 0 2 Pos. Driver FRA France ITA Italy POL Poland FIN Finland GER Germany ESP Spain Drops Points Source: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)
1Spain Nil Solans1+41+81+92+52+41+1018158
2France Nicolas Ciamin2+22+431+113+105+710125
3France Terry Folb3+44+24+5Ret+44+72+1092
4Germany Julius Tannert4354+1131080
5Sweden Dennis Rådström55+12+63+44+1077
6United States Dillon Van Way8765WD028
7Republic of Ireland Robert Duggan66+4WD020
8Bolivia Sebastian Careaga787WDWD016
9Finland Emil Lindholm8+1Ret+106
10Estonia Miko-Ove Niinemäe9RetWD02
Pos.DriverFRA FranceITA ItalyPOL PolandFIN FinlandGER GermanyESP SpainDropsPoints
Source:
Key
ColourResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleDid not finish (Ret)
BlackExcluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
BlankWithdrew entry from the event (WD)

FIA Junior WRC Championship for Co-Drivers

Pos.Co-driverFRA FranceITA ItalyPOL PolandFIN FinlandGER GermanyESP SpainDropsPoints
Pos. Co-driver FRA France ITA Italy POL Poland FIN Finland GER Germany ESP Spain Drops Points 1 Spain Miquel Ibáñez 1+4 1+8 1+9 2+5 2+4 1+10 18 158 2 France Thibault de la Haye 2+2 2+4 3 1+11 3+10 5+7 10 125 3 France Christopher Guieu 3+4 4+2 4+5 Ret+4 4+7 2+1 0 92 4 Austria Jürgen Heigl 4 3 5 4+1 1 3 10 80 5 Sweden Johan Johansson 5 5+1 2+6 3+4 4+1 0 77 6 United Kingdom Dai Roberts 8 7 6 5 WD 0 28 7 United Kingdom Tom Woodburn 6+4 WD 0 12 8 Spain Rodrigo Sanjuan 8 7 WD WD 0 10 9 Republic of Ireland Gerard Conway 6 0 8 10 Argentina Claudio Bustos 7 0 6 11 Finland Tomi Tuominen 8+1 Ret+1 0 6 12 Estonia Martin Valter 9 Ret WD 0 2 Pos. Co-driver FRA France ITA Italy POL Poland FIN Finland GER Germany ESP Spain Drops Points Source: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)
1Spain Miquel Ibáñez1+41+81+92+52+41+1018158
2France Thibault de la Haye2+22+431+113+105+710125
3France Christopher Guieu3+44+24+5Ret+44+72+1092
4Austria Jürgen Heigl4354+1131080
5Sweden Johan Johansson55+12+63+44+1077
6United Kingdom Dai Roberts8765WD028
7United Kingdom Tom Woodburn6+4WD012
8Spain Rodrigo Sanjuan87WDWD010
9Republic of Ireland Gerard Conway608
10Argentina Claudio Bustos706
11Finland Tomi Tuominen8+1Ret+106
12Estonia Martin Valter9RetWD02
Pos.Co-driverFRA FranceITA ItalyPOL PolandFIN FinlandGER GermanyESP SpainDropsPoints
Source:
Key
ColourResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleDid not finish (Ret)
BlackExcluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
BlankWithdrew entry from the event (WD)

FIA Junior WRC Championship for Nations

Pos.CountryFRA FranceITA ItalyPOL PolandFIN FinlandGER GermanyESP SpainPoints
1Spain136
2France109
3Germany94
4Sweden69
5United States34
6Bolivia22
7Ireland20
8Finland6
9Estonia4
Pos.Co-driverFRA FranceITA ItalyPOL PolandFIN FinlandGER GermanyESP SpainPoints
Source:

External links