• Welcome to Motorsport Forums, the ultimate hub for motorsport fans since 2000! Click here to register. It is completely free, takes just a few seconds, and you can sign in instantly with your Google account.

2025 WRC News & Rumours

A

Andre Oliveira

Senior member
GakWqufX0AAEfzU


2025 FIA Junior WRC: Portugal Returns, Central European Rally Debuts

The FIA Junior WRC calendar for 2025, unveiled today (23 October), promises another
thrilling season with the return of Vodafone Rally de Portugal and a debut for Central
European Rally.

Building on the record-breaking entry list of 2024, the 2025 championship is set to continue its momentum by offering rising talents the chance to showcase their skills in identical M-Sport Poland Ford Fiesta Rally3 Evo cars across five high-profile rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship.


The season revs into action in Umeå from 13 – 16 February with Rally Sweden, a high-speed spectacle on snow and ice that serves as the perfect season opener. For many Junior WRC crews, it will be their first experience of rallying with studded tyres on winter surfaces, where average speeds are often among the highest all year.


From 15 - 18 May, crews head to Matosinhos for Vodafone Rally de Portugal – a founding round of the 1973 WRC season and renowned for its passionate fanbase. Last appearing on the Junior WRC calendar in 2022, Portugal’s sun-soaked gravel stages have a reputation for delivering unforgettable drama.


The iconic EKO Acropolis Rally Greece takes centre stage from 26 – 29 June. Already one of the most gruelling rallies in the world, its move to a summer date will only intensify the challenge with scorching temperatures and punishing rocky terrain.


After its popular return this year, Secto Rally Finland once again forms the fourth and penultimate round. Ultra-high speeds and stomach-churning jumps are part and parcel of the gravel-based event, which is based in Jyväskylä from 31 July – 3 August.


The season concludes in style at Central European Rally, making its Junior WRC debut from 16 – 19 October. The event boasts a unique cross-border format with stages traversing Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany. As a final twist, double classification points will be on offer, adding even more excitement to the championship finale. A life-changing prize will be awarded to the eventual champion, helping them to take the next step in the career with an arrive and drive package to use an M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 on four European WRC2 rounds in 2026.


FIA Junior WRC championship manager Maciej Woda commented: “2025 is shaping up to be another landmark year for the FIA Junior WRC. We’ve designed a calendar that will challenge our crews across a variety of terrains, from icy roads in Sweden to the searing heat of Greece and the changeable Tarmac of Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany.


“I’m particularly excited about returning to Portugal and the introduction of Central European Rally, which adds a fresh dimension to the series. It’s going to be another thrilling season and I can’t wait to see who rises to the top.”
 

Attachments

  • d3b7c5dd-1caa-22aa-ada0-b475a2b914f9.jpg
    d3b7c5dd-1caa-22aa-ada0-b475a2b914f9.jpg
    21.3 KB · Views: 13
Last edited:
FIA is just too focused on milking the F1 cow and trying to capitalize on the unexpected WEC success to fully care about fixing WRC issues... Sad but true. Disappointing with 2 former rallymen being at the helm...
 
Maybe suggest fia to try the new pointsystem already in Japan :D to be sure, it works haha

,,Neuville entered the chat'' :D
 
becher said:
That is basically what most people around here proposed and asked for.
Click to expand...

I'm aware and if they make that change I'll be glad about it, although there will still be the risk of second place outscoring first place (28 vs 25) or third place matching first place (if they manage to be quickest on Sunday).
 
We get the value of rally wins back and enjoyable Sunday again.. What do you want more.. So there will be 35 points in offer in total? That's a lot.
 
CeskyOndra said:
We get the value of rally wins back and enjoyable Sunday again.. What do you want more..
Click to expand...

Rally winner getting more points than everyone else no matter what happen on sunday.

One sunday classification with 6-5-4-3-2-1 would be best solution together with 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 for whole rally.
 
I'm not clear whether the "5 points for Sunday" part means only 5 for the winner of Sunday, or 5-4-3-2-1 for the top five drivers over Sunday.

If it's just 5 for the fastest time on Sunday, I think that isn't enough and we'll see cruising again.

After watching the replays of last year's rally in Japan, I really don't want that.
 
Backa said:
Rally winner getting more points than everyone else no matter what happen on sunday.

One sunday classification with 6-5-4-3-2-1 would be best solution together with 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 for whole rally.
Click to expand...

I agree, but I suspect that commercial agreements mean they have to keep the power stage.
 
Eli said:
there will still be the risk of second place outscoring first place (28 vs 25) or third place matching first place (if they manage to be quickest on Sunday).
Click to expand...

It seems to me... Something like this would be unavoidable if you had enough points for Sunday to stop people from cruising, which was the object of the exercise. The maths is inevitable.

At least it means an end to "Saturday medals and Sunday medals and no clear winner". And it's an end to having a points system you can't explain to normal people. And it's an end to the 60-second lead at the end of Saturday being reset to zero on Sunday. It's back to having one rally.

Personally, I can't say I really mind second place occasionally getting a couple more points. To do it, they generally have to earn it.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Eli
This revised points system sounds good and all that was needed instead of the ridiculous one used this year.

A score for the overall positions and a little extra for Sunday speed. Perfect.
 
If the winner still doesn't get the most points, it's still a dumb system. They're tying themselves in knots all because of cruising on a Sunday.......It's part of motorsport, and always will be.
 
Eli said:
I'm aware and if they make that change I'll be glad about it, although there will still be the risk of second place outscoring first place (28 vs 25) or third place matching first place (if they manage to be quickest on Sunday).
Click to expand...

You had that sort of situation before with the powerstage (15+5=20; 18+0=18 for example) so I don't see a big issue with this.

The biggest issue with the old was not that the winner could be on 22 and third place on 24, but rather that the classification didn't give any points and we were back in a early sixties Monte with ("penalty-") points given for the covered legs.

The sport moved away from such things a long time ago and I'm pretty sure everyone agrees it was for the better.
 
AndyRAC said:
If the winner still doesn't get the most points, it's still a dumb system. They're tying themselves in knots all because of cruising on a Sunday.......It's part of motorsport, and always will be.
Click to expand...

Shhh people don't want to hear anything about drivers managing a situation, they only want to claim that everyone was going flat out in the old days. Nobody was managing their tyres or fuel or car or position in the old days in any form of motorsport after all.
 
AndyRAC said:
If the winner still doesn't get the most points, it's still a dumb system. They're tying themselves in knots all because of cruising on a Sunday.......It's part of motorsport, and always will be.
Click to expand...

Wow thats perfect that it was always a part of motorsport, but you are living in 2024 and everyone needs new exciting things and lot of action.. How can you entertain new fans with full day of cruising.. We have to move on and we have to accept the changes..
 
The WRC Sunday issue nowadays is with Rally.tv showing it all live, so we want to see cars going flat-out. If only the PS was shown, sometimes drivers going steady on the the other stages to ensure they finish wouldnt be an issue.

In effect it's all our fault ! ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top