World Rally Team Ireland was created by Sligo businessman Tommy Mullen with the help of Tom Nolan in order to provide an Irish presence on the World Rally Championship. The intention is to develop an Irish Team and an Irish Driver to eventually enable participation on the highest level of this most prestigious international competition.
World Rally Team Ireland have entered the F.I.A. Juniors category, in the “Rookie Trophy”.
Drivers participating in their first season of the F.I.A. Junior WRC are eligible to score points towards a Rookie Trophy only if they are driving one of the following cars:
Citroen produced the C2R2 model specifically to meet the “Rookie Trophy” requirements, which means that, while the car is not as powerful as its Super 1600 cousin the C2, it will still benefit from Citroen’s suspension and development expertise. Hopefully this will give World Rally Team Ireland an opportunity to provide the occasional surprise result by mixing it with the big boys on a “David versus Goliath” basis.
The F.I.A. Junior category is devised as a support championship to the full World Rally Championship (WRC), and was launched with the clear objective of providing a stepping stone to the WRC for drivers as well as teams, mechanics, and manufacturers. Drivers must be 28 years or younger at the start of the calendar year.
It is the world’s premier motorsport category for B-segment cars – often described as “hot hatchbacks”. All cars in the 2007 F.I.A. Junior WRC are front wheel drive, of medium size, and are driven by upcoming young drivers aspiring to reach the highest level of the sport.
In the first six years of the Junior WRC, many different manufacturers have produced cars eligible for the category, including Citroen, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Peugeot, Renault, and Suzuki. From the start of 2007, selected Group A cars with engines up to 2-lite capacity are also eligible, paving the way for cars homologated in the spirit of the future Group R.
This means the following types of car are eligible: