Martin Prokop triumphs as 2009 FIA Junior World Rally Champion

Co-driven by Jan Tománek, Prokop led from start to finish (as he did earlier this year in Cyprus) and joins an elite list of J-WRC champions which dates back to Sébastien Loeb in 2001 and includes the likes of Dani Sordo, Per-Gunnar Andersson and Sébastien Ogier - all of whom have gone on to drive factory World Rally Cars in the WRC.

Having made his J-WRC debut in 2005, J-WRC victory in Finland this year was Prokop's 10th of his career. The 26-year old driver from Jihlava had previously finished 3rd in the last two J-WRC seasons and describes winning the title at his fifth attempt as "the biggest sporting moment of my life".

Prokop pushed hard throughout the event, knowing that with Rally de España to go, a high points-scoring finish would be a huge step towards him taking the title. Save for a heart-stopping moment on SS15, when ruts in a braking area after a high speed section almost bounced his C2 off the road, Prokop drove with great maturity and without risk to win the J-WRC award by 55.5 seconds and claim a well deserved title.

Here are the results of the FIA Junior World Rally Championship 2009:

1st - Martin Prokop, Citroën C2 S1600

2nd - Kalle Pinomäki, Renault Clio R3

3rd - Michal Kosciuszko, Suzuki Swift S1600

"I am contesting the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship, so in the last two rounds of the series I will do my best and try to win it, but I think we only have a very small chance. season we want to find something new, but for the moment we don't know what it is. For sure we will stay in the World Rally Championship." Says Prokop

The FIA Junior World Rally Championship is a support championship to the FIA World Rally Championship for upcoming young drivers aspiring to reach the highest level of the championship, with 2009 seeing nine drivers representing at least six countries.

The cars they compete in are B-segment cars or the 'hot hatchbacks', which are front-wheel drive and have a total length of 3.6m and 4.15m. In the first seven years of the J-WRC we have seen many manufacturers produce cars eligible for the category including Citroën, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Peugeot, Renault and Suzuki. Eligible cars must be homologated in one of four technical classes: Super 1600 (1600cc), Group N cars (2000cc), Group R cars and selected Group A cars (1600cc).