The FIA Rally Star Training Season concludes in Germany next week (November 10-11), when the Lausitz Rallye provides the final opportunity for six young talents to stake their claim for an FIA Junior WRC Championship prize drive in 2024.
Based on gravel, the 26th running of the Lausitz Rallye is the sixth event on the FIA Rally Star Training Season schedule. It follows on from the San Marino Rally, Rallye Weiz, Rally Nova Gorica, Saaremaa Rally and RallyRACC in giving the FIA Rally Star drivers an incredible opportunity to learn and progress with the full support of motor sport’s world governing body.
To take part in the FIA Rally Star Training Season, the six drivers had to first qualify for their Continental Final via selection events organised by their ASNs or through online competitions as part of the FIA’s objective to increase motor sport participation globally.
The winners of the five Continental Finals plus the winner of the Women’s Final were then enrolled in the FIA Rally Star Training Season, which began with an intensive Training Camp in Sardinia in late May ahead of the first rally in June.
In order to aid their development and preparation for the future, the FIA Rally Star drivers compete in identical four-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta Rally3s equipped with Pirelli tyres and run by M-Sport Poland, the same package used in the FIA Junior WRC Championship.
Following the Lausitz Rallye, the FIA Rally Star drivers will assemble in Geneva for a final assessment day on November 13. The four drivers who will contest the FIA Junior WRC Championship in 2024 will be revealed later that week.
The FIA Rally Department, which conceived and manages the FIA Rally Star programme, has worked closely with event organiser, Rallye-Renn- & Wassersport Club Lausitz e.V. im ADMV, plus the German ASN, the Deutscher Motor Sport Bund (DMSB), in the build-up to the Lausitz Rallye, which counts as the final round of the 2023 FIA European Rally Trophy.
The challenge in store on the Lausitz Rallye
Eight stages over 138.92 kilometres await the FIA Rally Star drivers on the Lausitz Rallye, which is run out of the Boxberg municipality in the saxony region of eastern Germany. Leg one begins at 15:30 CET on Friday November 10 and features two stages – including one that starts in the dark – over a competitive distance of 42.74 kilometres. The rally resumes on Saturday and consists of six further stages totalling 96.18 kilometres with the finish scheduled for 17:08 that day.
FIA Rally Star latest news and views
Back-to-back gravel events will be to Romet Jürgenson’s liking following his Rally3 category victory on the loose-surface RallyRACC last month. A return to Germany will also reignite fond memories for the Estonian, who won the FIA Rally Star European Final in the country in January 2022.
Taylor Gill has vowed to demonstrate his “speed and potential” that the Australian felt were lacking on RallyRACC, an outing compromised by an early off, which resulted from an uncharacteristic error by the recently turned 20-year-old.
After delivering a second consecutive error-free performance in Spain, Max Smart intends to “use everything I have learned on RallyRACC, as it’s my last chance to try to get a seat in FIA Junior WRC next year”, when the South African contests the Lausitz Rallye.
Annia Cilloniz still believes there is “more in the pocket” after a strong showing from the Peruvian on RallyRACC. From being five seconds per kilometre from the pacesetting category time on the Saaremaa Rally, Cilloniz was able to reduce that deficit to under three seconds on some of RallyRACC’s repeated stages.
Having been able to lower the gap to Romet Jürgenson to under two seconds per kilometre on certain stages last time out in Spain, Oman’s Abdullah Al-Tawqi hopes his ongoing progression will deliver further improvement in Germany.
Given the all-clear following precautionary checks in hospital after crashing on RallyRACC’s penultimate stage, the Lausitz Rallye will provide the perfect opportunity for Peruvian Jose ‘Abito’ Caparo to rebuild his confidence and build on his impressive performances from earlier in the season.
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