Pan-European Pirelli Star Driver Selection This Weekend

Pirelli reports that everything is now ready in Freistadt, close to the Austrian city of Linz, for the pan-European Pirelli Star Driver selection process. This will decide who gets two of the five Group N or Super 2000 cars available for six European rounds of the World Rally Championship next year (in the Portugal, Italy, Greece, Finland, Spain and Great Britain WRC events).

A panel of experts will have the responsibility of selecting the drivers who will go through. These people are Walter Rohrl and Michele Mouton (both former stars of the World Rally Championship), David Evans (journalist), Mario Isola (Pirelli’s rally manager), Joao Passos (rally organiser) and Kevin Morris (team manager, Tommi Makinen Racing).

On October 25 and 26, 17 young drivers from all four corners of Europe will do battle in Austria, as well as one South American driver and one Central American driver. The participating drivers are all emerging talents who have been selected by their respective national sporting authorities (ASNs) and comply with a strict age limit, being less than 27 years old on January 1 2009. Representing the United Kingdom is 21-year-old Adam Gould, winner of the 2007 Fiesta International Shootout, and co-driver Sebastian Marshall. This year Gould has been competing in the British Rally Championship, where he has dominated his class in a Renault Clio, winning three of the five rallies held to date. He now leads the championship with just two rounds remaining.