The FIA established the FIA Junior World Rally Championship, shortly called the JWRC as an introductory category leading directly to the WRC in 2001 so that excellent young drivers can be discovered. The drivers cannot be older than 28 at the start of the Championship year to compete. There is no age limit for co-drivers.

Many talented young drivers who stood out in JWRC has stepped up into WRC, for example; Sebastian Loeb, Dani Soldo and so on. P-G Andersson of SUZUKI World Rally Team has followed them. This season, three drivers; Jaan Molder from Estonia, Polish Michal Kosciuszko and Florian Niegel from Germany compete in JWRC with SUZUKI Swift Super 1600.

The JWRC is also the world's premier motorsport category for B-Segment cars. The cars in JWRC are often described as the 'hot hatchbacks'. The main cars are so-called Super 1600 that belongs to Group A class 6. The cars must be front wheel drive, heavier than 950kg and with the engine capacity of less than 1600cc. Also Group N cars and a part of Group A cars approved by the FIA with an engine capacity of less than 2000cc can compete in the JWRC.

Seven events out of 15 events of the 2008 WRC are held as JWRC. Competitors have to participate in six events and run the same course as the WRC heroes drive. Drivers can score points on the six events they have nominated. The top eight registered drivers on each event will score points on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

FIA Junior WRC 2008 Calender