2020 Junior WRC Championship

The 2020 FIA Junior WRC Championship was the eighth 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. The championship was contested over four selected WRC rounds with the winning crew awarded a new Ford Fiesta R5 car, 200 tyres, free registration into the 2021 WRC3 Championship and five free rally entries.[1][2] The championship offered an additional prize of €15,000 to the highest-placed rookie driver to fund a drive in the 2021 Junior WRC Championship.

Tom Kristensson and Joakim Sjöberg won the driver and co-driver championships, while Sweden sealed back-to-back Nations' Trophies.

Calendar

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The 2020 Junior WRC Championship calendar consisted of four events taken from the 2020 World Rally Championship.[3]

Round Start date Finish date Rally Rally headquarters Surface Stages Distance Ref.
1 13 February 16 February   Rally Sweden Torsby, Värmland Snow 11 171.64 km[a] [5]
2 4 September 6 September   Rally Estonia Tartu, Tartu County Gravel 17 232.64 km [6]
3 8 October 11 October   Rally Italia Sardegna Alghero, Sardinia Gravel 20 308.57 km [7]
4 3 December 6 December   ACI Rally Monza Monza, Brianza Tarmac 16 241.37 km [8]
Source:[9][10][11]

Calendar changes

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The 2020 calendar was revised from the 2019 schedule. The Tour de Corse and Wales Rally GB were removed from the calendar, while events in Chile and Germany were added in their place.[9] However, Rally Chile was later cancelled in the face of ongoing political unrest in the country,[12] and Wales Rally GB was added back onto the calendar.[3] Rally Italia Sardegna was postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] A new calendar was revised after the championship was interrupted by six months.[10] Ypres Rally was set to be the season's finale,[14] but were unable to do so as the rally was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[15] The finale moved to Monza instead.[11]

Entries

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The following crews entered into the championship:

Entrant Drivers Co-drivers Rounds
Fabio Andolfi   Fabio Andolfi   Savoia Stefano All
Jon Armstrong   Jon Armstrong   Noel O'Sullivan 1
Raul Baidu   Raul Badiu   Gabriel Lazar 1–2
Ruairi Bell   Ruairi Bell   Darren Garrod 1, 3-4
  Matthew Edwards 2
Tommaso Ciuffi   Tommaso Ciuffi   Nicolo Gonella 1
Lauri Joona   Lauri Joona   Ari Koponen 1
Tom Kristensson Motorsport   Tom Kristensson   Joakim Sjöberg All
Pontus Lönnström   Pontus Lönnström   Stefan Gustavsson 1–2
Catie Munnings   Catie Munnings   Ida Lidebjer-Granberg 1
Enrico Oldrati   Enrico Oldrati   Elia de Guio 1–3
Team Flying Finn   Sami Pajari   Marko Salminen All
Marco Pollara   Marco Pollara   Maurizio Messina 1–3
LMT Autosporta Akademija   Mārtiņš Sesks   Renars Francis All
PS 110% AB   Oscar Solberg   Jim Hjerpe 1
Estonian Autosport Junior Team   Ken Torn   Kauri Pannas 1–2
Robert Virves   Robert Virves   Sander Pruul 2
Fabrizio Zaldivar   Fabrizio Zaldívar   Fernando Mussano 1–3
  Rogelio Peñate 4
Sources:[16][17][18][19][20]

Results and standings

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Season summary

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Round Event Winning driver Winning co-driver Winning time Report Ref.
1   Rally Sweden   Tom Kristensson   Joakim Sjöberg 1:22:51.3 Report [21]
2   Rally Estonia   Mārtiņš Sesks   Renars Francis 2:21:20.5 Report [22]
3   Rally Italia Sardegna   Tom Kristensson   Joakim Sjöberg 3:07:49.1 Report [23]
4   ACI Rally Monza   Tom Kristensson   Joakim Sjöberg 2:35:21.4 Report [24]

Scoring system

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Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers. An additional point is given for every stage win. 1.5-time bonus points were awarded for both drivers' and co-drivers' championships at the season's finale.

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

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(Results key)

Pos. Driver SWE
 
EST
 
ITA
 
MNZ
 
Points
1   Tom Kristensson 13 Ret1 14 17 100.5
2   Mārtiņš Sesks 21 13 35 Ret1 69
3   Sami Pajari 41 28 56 44 66
4   Fabrizio Zaldívar 6 6 2 2 53
5   Ruairi Bell 7 4 Ret 32 42.5
6   Marco Pollara 10 5 6 19
7   Ken Torn 3 Ret3 18
8   Enrico Oldrati 11 7 4 18
9   Robert Virves 32 17
10   Raul Badiu 52 8 16
11   Pontus Lönnström 82 Ret 6
12   Lauri Joona 9 2
  Tommaso Ciuffi 12
  Oscar Solberg 13
  Catie Munnings 14
  Fabio Andolfi Ret Ret DNS Ret
  Jon Armstrong Ret
Pos. Driver SWE
 
EST
 
ITA
 
MNZ
 
Points
Source:[25]

FIA Junior WRC Championship for Co-Drivers

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(Results key)

Pos. Co-Driver SWE
 
EST
 
ITA
 
MNZ
 
Points
1   Joakim Sjöberg 13 Ret1 14 17 100.5
2   Renars Francis 21 13 35 Ret1 69
3   Marko Salminen 41 28 56 44 66
4   Fernando Mussano 6 6 2 34
5   Darren Garrod 7 Ret 32 30.5
6   Maurizio Messina 10 5 6 19
7   Rogelio Peñate 2 18
8   Kauri Pannas 3 Ret3 18
9   Elia de Guio 11 7 4 18
10   Sander Pruul 32 17
11   Gabriel Lazar 52 8 16
12   Matthew Edwards 4 12
13   Stefan Gustavsson 82 Ret 6
14   Ari Koponen 9 2
  Nicolo Gonella 12
  Jim Hjerpe 13
  Ida Lidebjer-Granberg 14
  Stefano Savoia Ret Ret DNS Ret
  Noel O'Sullivan Ret
Pos. Co-Driver SWE
 
EST
 
ITA
 
MNZ
 
Points
Source:[25]

FIA Junior WRC Trophy for Nations

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(Results key)

Pos. Nation SWE
 
EST
 
ITA
 
MNZ
 
Points
1   Sweden 1 Ret 1 1 75
2   Latvia 2 1 3 Ret 58
3   Paraguay 6 6 2 2 52
4   Finland 4 2 5 4 52
5   United Kingdom 7 4 Ret 3 33
6   Estonia 3 3 30
7   Italy 8 5 4 Ret 26
8   Romania 5 7 16
9   Norway 9 2
Pos. Nation SWE
 
EST
 
ITA
 
MNZ
 
Points
Source:[25]

Notes

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  1. ^ The route of Rally Sweden was shortened from 301.26 km over 19 stages to 11 stages totalling 171.64 km. The route was shortened due to a lack of snow.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "FIA Junior WRC championship goes global in 2020". fia.com. Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. 29 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Superb entry for Junior opener". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH.
  3. ^ a b "Junior WRC Calendar 2020". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Green light for Rally Sweden". rallysweden.com. Rally Sweden. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  5. ^ "The race". rallysweden.com. Rally Sweden. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Appendix 1 Timetable" (PDF). rallyestonia.com. Rally Estonia. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Itinerary". rallyitaliasardegna.com. Rally Italia Sardegna. Retrieved 25 March 2020.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Itinerary". acirallymonza.com. Monza Rally Show. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Chile added to Junior WRC calendar". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Junior WRC announces amended calendar". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  11. ^ a b "FIA Junior WRC title to be decided in Monza". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  12. ^ Evans, David (29 November 2019). "WRC's 2020 Rally Chile cancelled due to political and social unrest". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  13. ^ Elizalde, Pablo (25 March 2020). "WRC 2020 season hit by more rally postponements due to coronavirus". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Ypres added to Junior WRC Calendar". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Belgium's Ypres rally off as coronavirus numbers rise". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Competitive field entered for 2020 FIA Junior WRC". m-sport.co.uk. M-Sport World Rally Team. 17 January 2020.
  17. ^ "Rally Sweden 2020 Entry List" (PDF). rallysweden.com. Rally Sweden. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  18. ^ "Rally Estonia 2020 Entry List" (PDF). rallyestonia.com. Rally Estonia. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  19. ^ "Rally Italia Sardegna 2020 Entry List". rallyitaliasardegna.com. Rally Italia Sardegna. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  20. ^ "Rally Monza 2020 Entry List". acirallymonza.com. Monza Rally Show. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  21. ^ "Sunday in Sweden: Tom tops junior standings". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 16 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  22. ^ "Sunday in Estonia: Junior success for Sesks after Virves heartbreak". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 6 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  23. ^ "Kristensson cruises to emphatic victory". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 11 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  24. ^ "Kristensson seals junior world title". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 6 December 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  25. ^ a b c "Standings". Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. 22 January 2021.
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