The 2022 FIA WRC3 Championship was the ninth season of WRC3, a rallying championship organised and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the third-highest tier of international rallying, running in support of the 2022 World Rally Championship. It was open to privateers and teams using cars complying with Group Rally3 regulations.
For the first time, WRC3 was split into Open and Junior championships with driver and co-driver titles awarded within each. The WRC3 Open Championship began in January 2022 with the Rallye Monte-Carlo and concluded in November 2022 with Rally Japan. The WRC3 Junior Championship started in February with Rally Sweden and the five-round championship concluded in September with Acropolis Rally. This was the FIA's new presentation of the previously existing Junior WRC Championship, which reverted to an FIA title in 2023.
In the open championships, Lauri Joona won the drivers' title. In the junior championships, Robert Virves won the drivers' title.
Calendar
WRC3 Junior calendar RoundDatesRally124–27 February Rally Sweden221–24 April Croatia Rally319–22 May Rally de Portugal414–17 July Rally Estonia58–11 September Acropolis Rally
Entries WRC3 Open The following crews officially entered into the 2022 WRC3 Open Championship:
Car Entrant Driver name Co-driver name Rounds Ford Fiesta Rally3 Hamza Anwar Hamza Anwar Adnan Din 6 Enrico Brazzoli Enrico Brazzoli Manuel Fenoli 1, 3, 5, 9 Jan Černý Jan Černý Petr Černohorský 1, 12 Petr Jindra 3 Tomáš Střeska 5 Jan Tománek 8 Tom Woodburn 9 Diego Dominguez Jr Diego Dominguez Jr Rogelio Peñate 5–6, 10, 12 Tommi Heino Tommi Heino Patric Öhman 8 Toni Herranen Toni Herranen Sebastian Virtanen 8 Panagiotis Ismailos Panagiotis Ismailos Allan Harryman 10 Lauri Joona Lauri Joona Mikael Korhonen 2, 4, 7, 12 Tuukka Shemeikka 8 Epameinondas Karanikolas Epameinondas Karanikolas Georgios Kakavas 10 McRae Kimathi McRae Kimathi Mwangi Kioni 2–3, 6–7 Stuart Loudon 4 Roope Korhonen Roope Korhonen Anssi Viinikka 7 Zoltán László Zoltán László Tamás Begala 1 Tamás Kürti 5, 9, 12 M-Sport Racing Kft Zoltán László Tamás Kürti 3 Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy William Creighton Liam Regan 2–4, 7, 10 Sami Pajari Sami Pajari Enni Mälkönen 1–4, 7 Ivica Siladić Ivica Siladić Jasna Durak 3 Henri Timonen Henri Timonen Jussi Kärpijoki 8 Jeremy Wahome Jeremy Wahome Victor Okundi 6 Maxine Wahome Maxine Wahome Murage Waigwa 6Sources:
WRC3 Junior The following crews officially entered into the 2022 WRC3 Junior Championship:
Car Entrant Driver name Co-driver name Rounds Ford Fiesta Rally3 Jon Armstrong Jon Armstrong Brian Hoy 1–5 Jean-Baptiste Franceschi Jean-Baptiste Franceschi Anthony Gorguilo 1–3 Lauri Joona Lauri Joona Mikael Korhonen 1–5 McRae Kimathi McRae Kimathi Mwangi Kioni 1–2, 4–5 Stuart Loudon 3 Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy William Creighton Liam Regan 1–5 Sami Pajari Sami Pajari Enni Mälkönen 1–5 Panagiotis Roustemis Panagiotis Roustemis Christos Bakloris 1 Starter Energy Racing Robert Virves Aleks Lesk 1–3 Julia Thulin 4–5Sources:
Regulation changes Sporting Regulations The following titles will be contested within WRC3 in 2022: Open Championship for Drivers Open Championship for Co-Drivers Championship for Teams Junior Championship for Drivers Junior Championship for Co-Drivers
In a change from the 2021 season, a teams championship will be contested but drivers will not be obliged to run in one. Points from the highest scoring 4 rounds of 5 entered will be considered for the championship.
The WRC3 Junior championship will be organised by M-Sport Ltd as an arrive-and-drive style competition as previously presented in Junior WRC Championship. Ford Fiesta Rally3 cars will be provided on 5 prescribed rounds for drivers born on or after 1 January 1993. Unlike the rules used in WRC2 Junior, drivers of Junior age who do not register and compete in this fashion will not be eligible for the WRC3 Junior championships.
Results and standings Season summary WRC3 Open RoundEventWinning driverWinning co-driverWinning entrantWinning timeReportRef.1 Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo Sami Pajari Enni Mälkönen Sami Pajari3:24:39.2Report2 Rally Sweden Lauri Joona Mikael Korhonen Lauri Joona2:24:33.8Report3 Croatia Rally Zoltán László Tamás Kürti Zoltán László3:32:47.0Report4 Rally de Portugal Sami Pajari Enni Mälkönen Sami Pajari4:13:33.2Report5 Rally Italia Sardegna Jan Černý Tomáš Střeska Jan Černý3:44:23.5Report6 Safari Rally Kenya Maxine Wahome Murage Waigwa Maxine Wahome5:20:21.6Report7 Rally Estonia Sami Pajari Enni Mälkönen Sami Pajari3:13:58.6Report8 Rally Finland Lauri Joona Tuukka Shemeikka Lauri Joona2:42:52.5Report9 Ypres Rally Belgium Jan Černý Tom Woodburn Jan Černý2:53:14.2Report10 Acropolis Rally Greece Diego Dominguez Jr Rogelio Peñate Diego Dominguez Jr4:02:20.1Report11 Rally New Zealand No WRC3 entriesReport12 RACC Rally Catalunya de España Lauri Joona Mikael Korhonen Lauri Joona3:04:36.1Report13 Rally Japan No WRC3 entriesReport
WRC3 Junior RoundEventWinning driverWinning co-driverWinning entrantWinning timeReportRef.1 Rally Sweden Jon Armstrong Brian Hoy Jon Armstrong2:24:31.1Report2 Croatia Rally Lauri Joona Mikael Korhonen Lauri Joona3:07:24.9Report3 Rally de Portugal Sami Pajari Enni Mälkönen Sami Pajari4:13:33.2Report4 Rally Estonia Sami Pajari Enni Mälkönen Sami Pajari3:13:58.6Report5 Acropolis Rally Greece Robert Virves Julia Thulin Starter Energy Racing3:55:38.4Report
Scoring system Position1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10thPoints251815121086421
Open Crews were only allowed to enter a maximum of 5 events with the 4 best results scoring points in the championship.
Junior Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers. An additional point was given for every stage win. The best four results out of five counted towards the final drivers’ and co-drivers’ standings. However, all points gained from stage wins were retained. Double points were awarded at the season's finale to those with at least 3 previous 2022 JWRC round starts.
FIA WRC3 Open Championship for Drivers DriverMONSWECROPORITAKENESTFINBELGRCNZLESPJPNTotalpointsBest 4 1 Lauri Joona12211 111 93 2 Sami Pajari14Ret11 87 87 3 Jan Černý21212 104 86 4 Zoltán LászlóRet1224 73 73 5 William Creighton24Ret32 63 63 6 McRae Kimathi3Ret334 57 57 7 Enrico Brazzoli32Ret3 48 488 Diego Dominguez Jr134040 9 Maxine Wahome1 25 25 10 Jeremy Wahome2 18 18 11 Ivica Siladić3 15 1512 Henri Timonen3151513 Epameinondas Karanikolas3151514 Toni Herranen4121215 Panagiotis Ismailos41212 16 Roope Korhonen5 10 10DriverMONSWECROPORITAKENESTFINBELGRCNZLESPJPNTotalpointsBest 4Source:
FIA WRC3 Open Championship for Co-Drivers DriverMONSWECROPORITAKENESTFINBELGRCNZLESPJPNTotalpointsBest 4 1 Enni Mälkönen14Ret11 87 87 2 Mikael Korhonen1221 76 76 3 Tamás Kürti1224 73 73 4 Liam Regan24Ret32 63 63 5 Manuel Fenoli32Ret3 48 48 6 Mwangi Kioni3Ret34 42 427 Rogelio Peñate134040 8 Petr Černohorský2WD2 36 369 Tomáš Střeska1252510 Murage Waigwa1252511 Tuukka Shemeikka1252512 Tom Woodburn1252513 Victor Okundi2181814 Jan Tománek21818 15 Jasna Durak3 15 15 16 Stuart Loudon3 15 1517 Jussi Kärpijoki3151518 Georgios Kakavas3151519 Sebastian Virtanen4121220 Allan Harryman4121221 Anssi Viinikka51010DriverMONSWECROPORITAKENESTFINBELGRCNZLESPJPNTotalpointsBest 4Source:
FIA WRC3 Junior Championship for Drivers DriverSWECROPORESTGRCTotal PointsBest 4 1 Robert Virves6233521714 138 130 2 Jon Armstrong1545483326 127 115 3 Sami Pajari57Ret8161456 111 111 4 Lauri Joona231121416 95 83 5 William Creighton3151Ret153 68 68 6 McRae Kimathi4Ret564 54 54 7 Jean-Baptiste Franceschi3WD 15 15DriverSWECROPORESTGRCTotalpointsBest 4Source:
FIA WRC3 Junior Championship for Co-Drivers DriverSWECROPORESTGRCTotalpointsBest 4 1 Brian Hoy1545483326 127 115 2 Enni Mälkönen57Ret8161456 111 111 3 Mikael Korhonen231121416 95 83 4 Liam Regan3151Ret153 68 68 5 Julia Thulin21714 64 64 6 Aleks Lesk62335 49 49 7 Mwangi Kioni4Ret64 44 44 8 Anthony Gorguilo3WD 15 15 9 Stuart Loudon5 10 10DriverSWECROPORESTGRCTotalpointsBest 4Source:
Notes
References
External links
FIA WRC3 Open Championship 2022 at eWRC-results.com FIA WRC3 Junior Championship 2022 at eWRC-results.com