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.

Round Dates Rally name Rally headquarters Rally details Start Finish Surface Stages Distance 1 7 April 9 April Bastia, Haute-Corse Tarmac 10 316.76 km 2 9 June 11 June Rally Italia Sardegna Alghero, Sardinia Gravel 19 312.66 km 3 30 June 2 July Rally Poland Gravel 23 318.47 km 4 28 July 30 July Rally Finland Jyväskylä, Keski-Suomi Gravel 25 314.20 km 5 Tarmac 21 309.17 km 6 6 October 8 October Salou, Tarragona 19 312.02 kmSource:

Entries

The following crews competed in the championship.

Rounds Sebastian Careaga Claudio Bustos 1 Rodrigo Sanjuan 2–3 Nicolas Ciamin 1–6 Robert Duggan Gerard Conway 1 Tom Woodburn 2 Terry Folb Christopher Guieu 1–6 Emil Lindholm Tomi Tuominen 3–4 Martin Valter 1–2 Dennis Rådström Johan Johansson 1–4, 6 Nil Solans Miquel Ibáñez 1–6 Julius Tannert Jürgen Heigl 1–6 William Wagner Kévin Parent 1 Dillon van Way Dai Roberts 1–4Source:

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-driver1 Tour de Corse3:53:44.4Report2 Rally Italia Sardegna 4:00:07.8Report3 Rally Poland Nil Solans Miquel Ibáñez 3:17:47.0Report4 Rally Finland 2:57:23.4Report5 Rallye Deutschland Julius Tannert Jürgen Heigl 3:30:54.4Report6 Nil Solans Miquel Ibáñez 3:29:02.3Report

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.

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

Driver FRA ITA POL FIN GER ESP Drops Points 1 Nil Solans 1+4 1+8 1+9 2+5 2+4 1+10 18 158 2 Nicolas Ciamin 2+2 2+4 3 1+11 3+10 5+7 10 125 3 Terry Folb 3+4 4+2 4+5 Ret+4 4+7 2+1 0 92 4 Julius Tannert 4 3 5 4+1 1 3 10 80 5 Dennis Rådström 5 5+1 2+6 3+4 4+1 0 77 6 Dillon Van Way 8 7 6 5 WD 0 28 7 Robert Duggan 6 6+4 WD 0 20 8 Sebastian Careaga 7 8 7 WD WD 0 16 9 8+1 Ret+1 0 6 10 9 Ret WD 0 2 Driver FRA ITA POL FIN GER ESP Drops Points

FIA Junior WRC Championship for Co-Drivers

Co-driver FRA ITA POL FIN GER ESP Drops Points 1 Miquel Ibáñez 1+4 1+8 1+9 2+5 2+4 1+10 18 158 2 2+2 2+4 3 1+11 3+10 5+7 10 125 3 Christopher Guieu 3+4 4+2 4+5 Ret+4 4+7 2+1 0 92 4 Jürgen Heigl 4 3 5 4+1 1 3 10 80 5 Johan Johansson 5 5+1 2+6 3+4 4+1 0 77 6 Dai Roberts 8 7 6 5 WD 0 28 7 Tom Woodburn 6+4 WD 0 12 8 Rodrigo Sanjuan 8 7 WD WD 0 10 9 Gerard Conway 6 0 8 10 Claudio Bustos 7 0 6 11 Tomi Tuominen 8+1 Ret+1 0 6 12 Martin Valter 9 Ret WD 0 2 Co-driver FRA ITA POL FIN GER ESP Drops Points

FIA Junior WRC Championship for Nations

Country FRA ITA POL FIN GER ESP Points 1 136 2 109 3 94 4 69 5 34 6 22 7 20 8 6 9 4 Co-driver FRA ITA POL FIN GER ESP Points

References

External links Official website of the World Rally Championship