2024 EKO Acropolis Rally Greece - Junior WRC final report
Romet Jürgenson has carved his name into FIA Junior WRC history books, joining the likes of Sébastien Ogier, Thierry Neuville and Craig Breen by clinching the FIA Junior WRC title with a second-place finish at EKO Acropolis Rally Greece.
The 24-year-old Estonian, with co-driver Siim Oja at his side, came into the season finale atop the standings, and with his closest rivals succumbing to the punishing mountain roads, Jürgenson adopted a calculated, risk-free approach on Sunday’s remaining three stages. He ultimately finished 1min 06sec behind rally winner Norbert Maior.
Jürgenson, who earned his spot in the all-M-Sport Poland Ford Fiesta Rally3 championship through the FIA Rally Star programme, becomes the second Estonian to win the title following Robert Virves’ triumph in 2022.
His landmark victory will earn him four WRC2 drives on European events in 2025 in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2, along with valuable testing and tyre support courtesy of M-Sport Poland and Pirelli.
Proving himself to be the most consistent driver throughout 2024, Jürgenson claimed podium finishes at three of the five rounds and racked up an impressive 29 Wolf Stage Win points – over twice as many as any other competitor.
Norbert Maior, the 2023 FIA Junior ERC champion, capped off his season by surging from seventh to second in the championship standings, edging out Australia’s Taylor Gill by three points. Tom Rensonnet completed the rally podium behind Jürgenson.
“It is great to be on this table with historic names like Ogier and Breen and so many other great drivers that won the Junior WRC,” exclaimed an ecstatic Jürgenson. He continued: “On this rally you have to drive with your eyes a lot – we had good instincts and we avoided quite a lot of big rocks – in the end it went well.”
The Acropolis lived up to its brutal reputation with the Junior WRC battle quickly turning into a game of survival. Nearly the entire field was forced to stop and make wheel changes at various points over the weekend’s 15 stages.
Several title contenders saw their dreams dashed by mechanical woes. Gill was left nursing his car through Saturday’s final stages with damaged rear suspension, while Ali Türkkan was heartbreakingly forced to retire on the road section to the same test with a broken wishbone.
Last year’s runner-up Diego Dominguez struggled with overheating and rear suspension issues which effectively ended his bid for a higher podium finish in 2024 and Petr Borodin rolled out of contention in the rally’s penultimate stage.
In a milestone season for the FIA Junior WRC, 22 drivers competed in at least one event, with 19 scoring points and nine different drivers claiming podium finishes.
