Pirelli, in association with the Prestone MSA British Rally Championship, has confirmed the prizes available to Pirelli registered crews in this year’s series. The tyre maker states it will “increase its involvement” in 2018, and will provide prizes at each event as well as at the end of the year.
Oscar Solberg has claimed victory on Pirelli tyres on his British Rally Championship debut. Driving a Ford Fiesta R2T, the 20-year-old Norwegian won the Junior BRC category on the opening round of the 2017 season, the Border Counties Rally in southern Scotland. Solberg is the son of World Rally Championship podium-finisher Henning and nephew of Petter, who used Pirelli tyres to become world champion in 2003 with Subaru. He is just the latest second-generation rally star to show his potential with Pirelli recently: Kalle Rovanpera, 16, last year became champion in Latvia, where Solberg’s own cousin Oliver is now also embarking on his rally career.
Pirelli will act as exclusive tyre supplier for the new Prototype Cup, the first national-level series in the UK for the increasingly popular LMP3 category of cars. Created by Bute Motorsport, organiser and promoter of the GT Cup – which Pirelli has supplied since 2009 – the opening round of the Prototype Cup takes place this weekend.
Dmack drivers Elfyn Evans and Craig Parry were crowned 2016 MSA British Rally champions after sealing their fourth overall victory on a difficult Ulster Rally. It was the Welsh pair’s fourth overall rally win from five finishes, moving them into an unbeatable position in the series with one round still remaining. Evans, from Dolgellau in mid-Wales, followed in the footsteps of his father Gwyndaf – who won the British Rally Championship exactly 20 years ago. Using Dmack’s range of recently launched tarmac rally tyres, he and Parry finished over a minute ahead of the competition after winning half of the 14 demanding special stages.
Pirelli will supply its crews with the P Zero RK range of asphalt tyres, including the RK7B medium compound, as it seeks another strong showing at the Ulster Rally, the latest stage in the British Rally Championship. Pirelli locked out the podium places on the one previous all-Tarmac event this season – the Circuit of Ireland in April – and will be supplying a strong contingent of drivers on the 19-20 August event.
One of the UK’s most prestigious rally events celebrates two important landmarks this weekend, with its title sponsor and tyre supplier at centre stage. The Pirelli Carlisle Rally – part of the British Rally Championship 2016 following the series’ relaunch – runs its 40th edition, and 25th under the Italian manufacturer’s name. Pirelli said its British Rally Championship stars would fight to deliver a victory on the home ground of high-speed gravel roads in the Kielder Forest. The rally consists of seven stages over Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, totalling 75 competitive miles.
Pirelli’s exclusive supply deal with the British GT Championship enters its second round on the high-speed banked oval and twisty infield of Northamptonshire’s Rockingham circuit on 30-31 April. Record-breaking lap times were set on the new P Zero rubber at the season’s curtain-raiser at Brands Hatch, with Derek Johnston and Jonny Adam claiming victory and an early GT3 championship lead in their TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Competition was fiercer, with Bentley, Lamborghini and BMW making it four different manufacturers in the top four in the race.
Pirelli Star Driver Daniel McKenna has become the latest driver to win the British Rally Championship with the help of Pirelli, thanks to his victory on the final round at the Rally Isle of Man last weekend. Last year, the 27-year-old Irishman was elected by a panel of motorsport experts to the coveted Pirelli Star […]
On what was described as “a dark day for British and Irish motorsports, the Northern Ireland Motor Club issued the following statement: “It is with deep regret that the Northern Ireland Motor Club can confirm that twenty-year-old Timothy Cathcart from Enniskillen, was sadly killed when his car left the road on the Fardross stage of […]
Pirelli has announced the expansion of its Star Driver Scheme, which has previously helped up-and-coming talent such as Elfyn Evans reach the top of world rallying. In a change to the previous on-event selection process, the 2014 MSA British Rally Championship’s Pirelli Star Driver nominations will be awarded to each of the BRC’s five category champions at the end of the season.
Osian Pryce won the Trackrod Yorkshire Rally, round five of the British Rally Championship, following a three-way battle that took the event to the final stage. Pirelli, on whose tyres the BRC is competed, said that the rally matched last year’s corresponding event, which staged one of the championship’s closest finishes, for excitement. The manufacturer’s supported Pirelli Star Driver Mark Donelly helped make the event for Pirelli, driving a mature rally to bring his Pirelli-backed Citroen DS3 R3T home in fifth. Meanwhile championship leader Jukka Korhonen – a former Pirelli Star Driver himself – looks likely to clinch the title in the Dorset and Hampshire forests, where the six-round series concludes with Rallye Sunseeker International (18-19 October).
Arron Newby has become the youngest ever Intenational Rally Isle of Man winner after winning in the event’s 50th anniversary year. Newby is supported by Pirelli, and the 18 year old took his TEG Subaru Impreza with Manx co-driver Rob Fagg to victory on the Italian tyre manufacturer’s RX and RE asphalt tyres. Pirelli UK Motorsport operations manager Matthew Corby said: “The Manx is one of the most prestigious events in British rallying with the likes of Colin McRae and Roger Clark having won this rally in the past.”
The British Rally Championship will move to a seven-round format in 2013, with the Scottish Rally returning after a seven-year break and Rally North Wales back as the opening round. Rallye Sunseeker will host the season’s finale in October. Pirelli has been the series’ official tyre supplier since 2007.
Henry Gilbert extended his lead in the Pirelli-backed MINI Challenge at Snetterton 300. The MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S race cars raced over two classes at the fourth round of the seven-round series: the John Cooper Works (JCW) class and the Club class. The JCW class was provided with slick and wet options: the 225/625-17 DH slick and 225/625-17 WS wet tyre. For the second time this season, Pirelli DH slicks and N3 wets were available to the Club class.
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