A total of 13 drivers from 10 countries will contest the 2019 FIA Junior World Rally Championship in brand new EcoBoost powered Ford Fiesta R2’s.
2019 sees the championship have a mix of both returning and new faces signed up for competition in the newly announced R2 spec car with the prize to the winner being a brand-new Ford Fiesta R5 and 200 tyres provided by Pirelli.
Perhaps one of the favourites for the title will be 2018 JWRC runner up Dennis Rådström who returns after taking two victories last season.
He is joined by Estonian driver Ken Torn and young German Julius Tannert who were both also at times near the top of the running in 2018 with Enrico Oldrati from Italy and Britain’s Tom Williams also both signed up for another shot at the JWRC crown.
FIA Junior WRC Championship Manager Maciej Woda commented on the entry list and said: “It’s fantastic to see such a strong entry for this year’s FIA Junior WRC Championship and I can’t wait to see what this year’s crop of talented young drivers are capable of.”
“I’m extremely proud of the all-new EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta R2 that we launched at the end of last year, and I’m thrilled to have 13 of these fantastic new cars lined up on the start line in Sweden.”
Two drivers to watch out for this season are 2018 FIA European Rally Championship Under 27 class graduates Mārtiņš Sesks and Tom Kristensson who finished first and second in class last season. Jan Solans, brother of former JWRC champion Nil, also enters and could be near the front of the field after winning the Junior R2 Spanish series in 2018.
Other entries for the 2019 JWRC include Roland Poom and Nico Knacker who both move up to the world stage after previously competing in Estonia and Germany respectively while Fabrizzio Zaldivar from Paraguay and Sean Johnston from the USA complete the entry ahead of the opening round of the season in Sweden between February 14-17.