Three young talents, only one runner-up
JWRC POLAND 2014- For the final round of the season, three drivers wi ll fight it out for the honour of finishing as runner-up in the FIA Junior WRC: Alastair Fisher, Quentin Giordano and Martin Koči.
- Having already secured the title at Rallye de France, Stéphane Lefebvre and Thomas Dubois will compete at Wales Rally GB in a DS3 R5.
Winner of three of the first four events of the season, Stéphane Lefebvre and Thomas Dubois wrapped up the title at Rallye de France-Alsace. Since then, the French crew has been preparing for next year's programme in the WRC2 category. As in Spain, they will start Wales Rally GB in a DS3 R5.
For this final round of the season, seven DS3 R3s are competing in the FIA Junior WRC. The main issue will be the fight for second place in the championship between Alastair Fischer, Quentin Giordano and Martin Koči.
Northern Irishman Alastair Fisher is very well-placed to impress in Wales. His recent win in France and two previous outings in Wales, with a podium finish in the WRC Academy (2011) and fifth place in the S-WRC (2012), all bode well for success this time around.
After finishing tenth in Portugal, the Frenchman Quentin Giordano has been on the podium in every round since then. Thanks to his performances in Poland, Finland, Germany and France, he is now only three points behind Fisher!
The final contender for the runner-up spot, Martin Koči is the only other driver - along with Stéphane Lefebvre - to have claimed a stage win at every round on the calendar. Despite drawing a blank in Germany, the Slovakian is still in the hunt for second place. He needs to make up ten points on Alastair Fisher (Fisher has the advantage if they finish level on points) and six on Quentin Giordano.
Although he can still finish in the top five in the championship standings, Simone Tempestini will above all be aiming to have fun at the final round of the season. The youngest driver in the series (20 years old) set fastest times in Poland, Finland and France.
After missing the rounds in Germany and France, Molly Taylor returns to action in Wales. The Australian is the Junior with the most experience of the Welsh forest roads. She made it to the end of the rally in both of the last two years here in a DS3 R3. She can therefore aim for a podium spot, and repeat her performance at Rally Finland!
The Pole Aron Domzala will have the chance to go up against some very tough opponents. Although this is his first season in the WRC, his performances in Poland and France point to his growing potential.
For this final round, the FIA Junior WRC welcomes an extra competitor. The Finn Henri Haapamäki is set to start his third WRC rally after twice competing in Rally Finland. Earlier this season, he claimed a category win at his home event in a Citroën C2-R2.
WRC3 DRIVERS' TITLE FOR STEPHANE LEFEBVRE
Automatically entered in the FIA WRC-3 Championship, all of the FIA Junior WRC competitors can score points in the category throughout the season. Ahead of the final round of the calendar, Stéphane Lefebvre is assured of the title*. And as in the Junior championship, the runner-up spot will be contested by Christian Riedemann (46 points), Quentin Giordano (46 points), Martin Koči (45 points), Alastair Fisher (40 points) and Simone Tempestini (26 points).
The points awarded in the WRC3 category at Rallye de France-Alsace were withdrawn from all of the competitors that had entered in a DS3 R3. An error on the homologation sheet (an incorrectly-placed decimal point in the camshaft data) was behind the decision of the Stewards. Citroën Racing has since corrected this administrative mistake.
THE SEVEN CREWS ENTERED
52 - Simone Tempestini (ITA) / Dorin Pulpea (ROU)
Driver date of birth: 12 August1994
Team: Napoca Rally Team
Previous results: Portugal, 6th - Poland, retirement - Finland, 5th - Germany, 10th - France, retirement
53 - Aron Domzala (POL) / Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL)
Driver date of birth: 1 August 1989
Team: Creative Rally Solution
Previous results: Portugal, retirement - Poland, 7th - Finland, 6th - France, 6th
55 - Quentin Giordano (FRA) / Guillaume Duval (FRA)
Driver date of birth: 10 June1986
Team: PH Sport
Previous results: Portugal, 10th - Poland, 3rd - Finland, 2nd - Germany, 3rd - France, 3rd
56 - Martin Koci (SVK) / Lukas Kostka (CZE)
Driver date of birth: 5 April 1993
Team: Gekon Racing
Previous results: Portugal, 3rd - Poland, 4th - Finland, 1st - Germany, retirement - France, 7th
58 - Molly Taylor (AUS) / Coral Taylor (AUS)
Driver date of birth: 6 May 1988
Team: D Max Rally Team
Previous results: Portugal, 8th - Poland, 8th - Finland, 3rd
62 - Alastair Fisher (GBR) / Gordon Noble (GBR)
Driver date of birth: 30 July 1988
Team: DGM
Previous results: Portugal, retirement - Poland, 2nd - Finland, 4th - Germany, 4th - France, 1st
73 - Henri Haapamäki (FIN) / Marko Salminen (FIN)
Driver date of birth: 6 January 1989
Team: Hannu's Rally Team
2014 FIA JUNIOR WRC DRIVERS' STANDINGS
1 Stéphane Lefebvre 93 points
2 Alastair Fisher 67 points
3 Quentin Giordano 64 points
4 Martin Koči 58 points
5 Christian Riedemann 46 points
6 Simone Tempestini 28 points
7 Molly Taylor 23 points
8 Aron Domzala 22 points
9 Eric Camilli 18 points
10 Federico Della Casa 18 points
11 Kornel Lukacs 16 points
12 Yohan Rossel 10 points
13 Jan Cerny 6 points
14 Panikos Polykarpou 2 points
15 Frédéric Hauswald 0 points
NATIONS TROPHY
1 France 185 points
2 Great Britain 67 points
3 Slovakia 58 points
4 Germany 46 points
5 Romania 28 points
6 Australia 23 points
7 Poland 22 points
8 Switzerland 18 points
9 Hungary 16 points
10 Czech Republic 6 points
11 Cyprus 2 points