It’s back! Junior ERC title chase resumes following summer break

Nineteen-year-old Mille Johansson completed the high-speed gravel event in early July with 102 points and heads to Wales with a 30-point advantage over fellow Swede and Opel Corsa Rally4 driver Calle Carlberg.   

Carlberg, 24, can still become champion but can’t afford for Johansson to claim his third win of the campaign this weekend. Even then, Carlberg essentially needs to win in Wales and again on Poland’s Rally Silesia finale in October to take the title and become the sixth driver representing the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team to do so.  

“The title fight between Mille and me is entering the hot phase, and if we don't do a good job, the European championship could already be decided in Wales,” said Carlberg, who is co-driven by Norwegian Jørgen Eriksen. “My aim must be to win Rali Ceredigion and postpone the decision until Poland.   

“We have approached our debut season in Junior ERC with minimal risk and have gained confidence with three second places in a row. Now it's time to attack a little more. Me and Jørgen are more motivated than ever. This will be our second competition on asphalt with the car and we're bringing a lot of knowledge from the Canary Islands. The competition will be tough, but we aim high. The championship is not decided and there is only one place we are aiming for.”

IK Sport Racing-run Johansson reacclimatised to asphalt driving with an outing on Rally Dolina Zelenega Zlata in Croatia last weekend. He said: “It was a good run in preparation for [this] week. It had been almost four months since we last drove on Tarmac and we could feel that so this was a really good rally just to get used to it again. We finished P2 in RC4 and fifth overall but this time the results did not matter. Eyes on the prize on Wales.”   

Scotland’s Max McRae and Germany’s Timo Schulz will be hoping to return to winning form in Wales, while Jack Brennan is back on Junior ERC duty for the first time since Rally Islas Canarias in May. He joins Aoife Raftery in the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy line-up.   

Meanwhile, ACI Team Italia’s Davide Pesavento (below) and Czech Daniel Polášek, the ERC4 runner-up on his home round in Zlín earlier this month, will also challenge for Junior ERC points.

How to watch?
Fans across the globe can experience the excitement and drama of the ERC with every stage of every rally broadcast Rally.tv platform. In addition, the ERC is broadcast in a number of countries around the world and fans are advised to check local listings for details.  

JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion 2024: the key numbers 
Stages: 14
Competitive distance: 184.16 kilometres 
Total distance: 652.43 kilometres