As crews prepare to tackle round six of the 2015 FIA Junior World Rally Championship in their Citroen DS3 R3-Max attention is already being drawn to 2016 as next year’s series will one again be run by Citroen Racing. The French team has run the championship for the last two years and has facilitated the emergence of young talents such as Stephane Lefebvre and Quentin Gilbert.
The format will remain the same with all drivers in DS 3 R3-MAX machines with the winner receiving a six-rally WRC2 programme in 2017. “The purpose of this formula is to support and encourage the emergence of new talents.” said Marek Nawarecki, Customer Racing Manager at Citroën Racing.
“We take great care to ensure that there are variety of surfaces when drawing up the calendar. These demanding rallies give the most talented drivers the chance to show what they can do and give all the competitors the opportunity to acquire experience.”
With the championship already wrapped up by Quentin Gilbert the main focus of this weekend’s RallyRACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada will be the battle for the runner-up spot in the championship and there are six drivers that are still in contention.
Norwegian Ole Christian Veiby currently holds second place in the series standings. Veiby has taken two podiums finishes this season and has had a relatively consistent campaign. Simone Tempestini took victory in Poland and fourth on tarmac stages of Monte Carlo, the Italian is only five points off Veiby with two rounds to go.
Terry Folb recovered from a tough start to the series with fourth in Finland and second in Corsica. The Frenchman is back in contention and will be aiming for victory in Spain. Swiss driver Federico Della Casa, Frenchman Pierre-Louis Loubet and the Emirati Mohammed Al Mutawaa will also have a fine opportunity to show what they can do on an unusual course.
The event will kick off with a super special stage on Thursday evening on the streets of Barcelona.
