Pirelli tyres provided drivers with a winning advantage at the Granite City Rally, round three of the MSA Scottish Rally Championship. The top three crews overall were equipped with Pirelli KM6 tyres and the winner of the two-wheel-drive category used the new Pirelli GM6 tyre.
Reigning Scottish and British rally champions, David Bogie and co-driver Kevin Rae, once again proved unstoppable as the duo charged to victory at the wheel of a Pirelli KM6-equipped Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9. Their win marks the pair’s third consecutive victory on home soil this year.
Second-placed Euan Thorburn put up a strong fight, and going into the rally’s penultimate stage he was only ten seconds behind Bogie. Thorburn's challenge, however, was thwarted when the 25-year-old lost time after his Ford Focus RS WRC went off the road, leaving Bogie to carve a winning margin of 33 seconds. Cumbria’s Paul Benn finished third at the wheel of his Pirelli KM6-equipped Subaru Impreza.
On the opening stage of the rally, the action was suspended following an accident during which a small group of spectators sustained leg injuries.
“It feels fantastic to have won three out of three rallies in our home championship this season, but my thoughts are with the people who were injured in the incident. We're all thinking of them and their families, and we pray they recover fully from their injuries,” said 24-year-old Bogie at the finish.
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Elsewhere, David Wilson and co-driver Dave Robson emerged as the leading 2WD crew at the wheel of a Ford Escort Mk2 assisted with Pirelli’s GM6 tyres: the pair finished thirteenth overall. The new Pirelli GM6 tyre pattern is designed to bite through mud to grip the solid surface below, while the tyre blocks provide enhanced cornering stability. It is the same tyre that helped former British rally champion, Gwyndaf Evans, take a dominant win of over eight minutes at the Roger Albert Clark Rally last year.
“First of all, we wish the people involved in the accident a speedy recovery,” said Pirelli Tyre UK motorsport manager, Carl Naylor. “The entry list for the third round of the Scottish Rally Championship was very impressive, and I am delighted to say that out of the 79 classified finishers, the top three finishing crews were all using Pirelli’s KM6 tyres. It is also fantastic to hear that the GM6 tyre helped Wilson claim a victory in the 2WD category. Pirelli’s KM6 and GM6 tyres cope incredibly well with the demands of tricky conditions and this has been reflected in a series of top results over the weekend, including victories in both the 4WD and 2WD categories.”
