After a highly successful inaugural season, Pirelli will continue to support the FIA WRC Academy as the 2012 season gets underway at Vodafone Rally de Portugal later this week (March 29 – April 1).For the second year running Pirelli will provide its K4 tyre on gravel, and RX5 as well as RE7 tyre on asphalt, to 13 rising stars and their co-drivers. The season will feature three gravel events: Portugal, Greece and Finland, followed by three asphalt events: Germany, France and Spain. Representing 11 countries worldwide, competitors will pilot identical Pirelli-branded Ford Fiesta R2s, each prepared by Cumbria’s M-Sport operation from a facility in Krakow, Poland.Last year’s Pirelli Star Driver – Elfyn Evans – finished runner-up in the highly competitive MSA British Rally Championship, and the experience has helped the 23-year-old Welshman make the next step in his rally career by moving on to compete in this year’s WRC Academy. Joining Evans in the six-round feeder series will be former Pirelli Star Driver Global Shootout winner, Australia’s Brendan Reeves. One of six selected to compete in last year’s WRC Academy backed by Pirelli, the 23-year-old finished fifth overall and will be looking to apply his extensive experience in pursuit of victory this year.After claiming third place on last year’s WRC Academy, Britain’s Alastair Fisher is set to return to the global feeder series for the second consecutive year. To help him prepare for Portugal, the Northern Irish driver has contested the opening two rounds of the Pirelli-supported British Rally Championship, both at the wheel of a Fiesta R2.Also flying the flag for the UK in this year’s WRC Academy will be 22-year-old John MacCrone. MacCrone, from the Isle of Mull in Scotland, took a class win on last year’s Wales Rally GB and will be eager to emulate his previous success when he makes his debut in the WRC Academy later this week.Paul Hembery, Pirelli’s motorsport director said: “At Pirelli, we firmly believe in investing in the champions of the future, which is why we launched the Star Driver scheme in conjunction with the FIA during the time when we were exclusive tyre supplier to the World Rally Championship. That legacy lives on today in the form of the WRC Academy, which marks a vital first step of any young driver’s career at the top level of world rallying. With equal cars and identical tyres, the spotlight is firmly on driving talent, and we look forward to helping the latest generation of rally stars make their names this year.” WRC Academy drivers will only take part on the first two days of each event and will spend the final day of the rally analysing their respective performances in a debrief session. Various other training seminars and workshops will take place during the course of the season to give the drivers the knowledge needed to take the next steps in their careers. With a dedicated programme including expert tuition on pre-event preparation and mental coaching, the WRC Academy is the ideal place for preparing rallying’s future stars for competition at the highest level.Pirelli has developed a version of the K4 tyre specifically to suit the Fiesta R2 in 175/70-15 K4 size. Based on the vastly successful Scorpion cover that was used on the World Rally Championship from 2008-2010, the K4 WRC Academy tyre is lighter than the Scorpion with a focus on performance as well as outright durability. However, their resistance against punctures has not been compromised. A maximum of 18 K4 tyres will be available for the 13 crews, including pre-event testing, on every gravel event.For the sealed surface rounds in Germany, France and Spain, the WRC Academy competitors will be allowed to use a maximum of 20 tyres, out of 18 P Zero RX5 tyres and between 8 and 12 P Zero RE7 wet-weather tyres available, depending on the event. 2012 FIA WRC Academy entrants101 Chris Duplessis (USA)/Karl Atkinson (USA)102 Jose AntonioSuarez (Spain)/Candido Carrera (Spain)103 Alastair Fisher (UK)/Daniel Barritt (UK)104 Mark Donnelly (UK)/Dai Roberts (UK)105 Pontus Tidemand (Sweden)/Stig-Rune Skjaermoen (Norway)106 Brendan Reeves (Australia)/Rhi Smyth (Australia)107 Timo van der Marel (Netherlands)/Erwin Berkhof (Netherlands)108 John MacCrone (UK)/Stuart Loudon (UK)109 Elfyn Evans (UK)/Andrew Edwards (UK)110 Yeray Lemes (Spain)/Rogelio Penate (Spain)111 Joao Siva (Portugal)/Jose Janela (Portugal)113 Ashley Haigh-Smith (South Africa)/Craig Perry (UK)114 Fredrik Åhlin (Sweden)/Morten Erik (Norway)2012 FIA WRC Academy calendarRound one: Vodafone Rally de Portugal, March 29 – April 01Round two: Acropolis Rally, May 25 - 27Round three: Neste Oil Rally Finland, August 02 - 05Round four: ADAC Rallye Deutschland, August 24 - 26Round five: Rallye de France, October 04 - 07Round six: RACC-Rally de Espana, November 08 - 11