Jürgenson clinched the junior title in the WRC this season. The 24-year-old Estonian competed for the first time in the JWRC class and immediately took home the coveted title. He celebrated a class victory in Croatia and also reached the podium in Sweden and Greece.
As a reward, Jürgenson will contest four WRC rounds in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 car in 2025. The International Automobile Federation (FIA) announced on Thursday that Jürgenson will also continue in the FIA Rally Star programme.
This means the Estonian’s Rally2 race count next year will be increased to six WRC rallies. Additionally, Jürgenson will receive coaching and other support during his debut season in the WRC2 class.
“We were already looking forward to doing four WRC2 events with M-Sport as our prize for winning the Junior WRC title but to get two extra events thanks to the support of FIA Rally Star is really great and I can’t thank the FIA enough,” Jürgenson enthuses.
“ As in 2024, I am trying my best to add some events with my own sponsors, but the overall target is to get the maximum out of the year in terms of experience and developing as a Rally2 driver. It’s a new category for me, new car, new speeds, new events… Everything is different, but I still want to show my potential at some point in the year so it’s not all about gaining experience, but also to show my speed, which is really important for continuing my career.”
The FIA Rally Star programme will also continue to support Taylor Gill and Max Smart. Both the Australian Gill and South African Smart already competed in the JWRC class this year and will continue in the same series in 2025.
The 21-year-old Gill experienced his season highlight in early August when he celebrated a JWRC class victory at Rally Finland. He also reached the podium in Rally Croatia and finished fourth in the overall class standings.
Smart, aged 22 and hailing from South Africa, achieved his only JWRC podium of the season in Rally Sardinia in early June. He ended the season seventh in the class standings.
The FIA Rally Star programme was launched in 2021, allowing young drivers worldwide to qualify for the programme through simulator rally competitions. More than 6,700 drivers from 50 different countries took part in the initial qualifying rounds.
