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Thread: Junior WRC 2023

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    Junior WRC 2023

    As asked, the thread for Junior WRC 2023

    The list of competitors (Drivers, starts according to ewrc)

    William Creighton (IRL) - 25 y.o. - 115 starts - GB Junior 2021, only one to have made J-WRC with Rally3 cars (3 Junior stage wins in 2022)

    Laurent Pellier (FRA) - 27 y.o. - 74 starts - France Junior 2015, Volant Peugeot 2017, ERC4 Junior 2022

    Roberto Blach Nuñez (ESP) - 26 y.o. - 85 starts - Peugeot Rally Cup Iberica 2018, Beca Junior 2022

    Tom Rensonnet (BEL) - 24 y.o. - 23 starts - Belgium Junior 2022

    Eamonn Kelly (IRL) - 24 y.o. - 46 starts - GB Junior 2022

    Diego Dominguez Jr. (PAR) - 22 y.o. - 51 starts - some races in WRC-3 last year including Greece and Sardinia, else mostly run locally

    Raul Hernandez Hernandez (ESP) - 21 y.o. - 40 starts - has run in Latvia, Estonia and Spain

    Anwar Hamza (KEN) - 24 y.o. - 29 starts - has run only in Africa so far


    Grégoire Munster is probably the best name but should only be in some events as a guest as he should do Croatia and Sardinia in WRC-2 according to his interviews. Probably Sweden and maybe Estonia in Junior.

    Well, if Munster is only a guest, difficult to see who will be champion considering it’s a new car for almost everyone with essentially new events.
    Creighton did some good times last year and has the advantage of knowing the situation.
    Pellier is probably the most used to the support series system.
    Rensonnet and Kelly are probably the ones with the biggest upside.
    Blach Nuñez is also to take into consideration, not very fast but quite efficient driver.

    I would be more surprised to see a win from the 3 others (Dominguez, Hernandez and Anwar) even if I hope they can do something .

    If I had to bet, I would say Pellier who has the best experience of support series/talent mix; but not with a big margin (all the more with Greece x2 as we see last year and that he didn’t drive that much in gravel in the last couple of years). And I would pay attention to Rensonnet and Kelly, even if maybe a little early for Rensonnet with very weak gravel experience.
    Creighton and Blach Nuñez can also win as they have maybe more versatile experience with gravel.
    Last edited by Danny0405; 13th January 2023 at 18:25.

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    I think Dominguez Jr. will be a big surprise on gravel events. He lacks experience on snow and tarmac, but I expect him to be close to the top in the gravel ones.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Co-driven View Post
    I think Dominguez Jr. will be a big surprise on gravel events. He lacks experience on snow and tarmac, but I expect him to be close to the top in the gravel ones.
    Well on snow for Sweden, there is no that much people with experience.
    Creighton has done Sweden (and a preparation Rally) last year with a good 1st day so he is one of the favorites.
    Hernandez has made 3 or 4 snow-ice rallyes in Baltic 4-5 years ago in R2
    Kelly is doing a prep rallye with Arctic in Rally3 but quite far from the Finnish guys.
    And Munster has done only Monte-type snow event (not Sweden-type) but is among the favorite considering his experience (however, he will probably only be a guest in this championship).

    Else they all have no experience on it. So it gives a pretty open fight in Sweden between them except I assume a Creighton-Munster fight for the win. Probably most of the drivers will be in survival mode in Sweden.
    And both Pajari in 2021 and Virves in 2022 won the championship with a «*bad*» result in Sweden.

    On tarmac, only one round.
    With Sardinia + Greece counting double (and he has done these two rallies last year), it gives Dominguez an opportunity but I think he is a bit fresh for it on what we saw last year, even if it was his first steps in Europe I recognize.

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    Any possibility to see Andrea Mabellini in the championship?

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    Quote Originally Posted by manthey View Post
    Any possibility to see Andrea Mabellini in the championship?
    Very unlikely.
    The entry list for Sweden is closed so there should be no new entry in Sweden.
    And if I remind well the regulations, to obtain the double count in the final round (and it is as good as impossible to win the championship without it), you must have done 3 of the 4 first rounds; so only hope for a new real entry (not a one-off) would be Croatia, after that it is too late. But it’s quite unlikely to have a new entry there IMO.

    Last rumors about Mabellini were talking more about ERC with Rally2 as a step-up.
    Last edited by Danny0405; 14th January 2023 at 17:00.

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    Rensonnet has never driven on anything else than Tarmac. So this should be a learning year for him, more than anything else.
    For me, the title should go between Creighton (because of his experience with the car and championship) and Pellier (he was so impressive in the jERC last year).

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    Quote Originally Posted by dupanton View Post
    Rensonnet has never driven on anything else than Tarmac. So this should be a learning year for him, more than anything else.
    For me, the title should go between Creighton (because of his experience with the car and championship) and Pellier (he was so impressive in the jERC last year).
    Well, yeah, Rensonnet is maybe the best raw talent but it sounds a bit early for him with no gravel experience. But I think he will do fast times soon, I wouldn’t be surprised with top-3 and even stage wins in Croatia

    However, it’s a difficult championship to predict with the double count in Acropolis (the championship is now a bit the same with this rule, 3/4 drivers still in contention and all at stake in the last round).
    3 good results in the first 4 and a bit of luck in Acropolis could be enough. Virves has shown it last year.

    As you said, if we take into account the international experience, the 4WD experience and the global experience, Creighton vs. Pellier would be the most logical (considering Munster is just a guest in a couple of events).
    I would not totally discard Kelly (think he is a better raw talent than Creighton) and Blach Nuñez however; with some consistency, I think they will still be in contention for Acropolis because of the rules (and there, everything can happen on one event, especially in Acropolis).
    Last edited by Danny0405; 14th January 2023 at 17:30.

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    Mabellini is very unlikely to race the J-WRC this year. as written by Danny he should race in the FIA ​​ERC with a rally2 and maybe a few races in the Italian Rally Terra Championship with MRF. But at the moment they are only rumors. unfortunate to say the least not to have Italian drivers at the start, I see it as an own goal by the Italian Federation.

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    Senior Member Andre Oliveira's Avatar
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    Still no new spec? Rear spoiler?

    It is a used car.


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    Is there need for new spec or never driven car? After all, all cars come from M-Sport Poland and are serviced by M-Sport Poland.

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