Pirelli-backed drivers out on force on Circuit of Ireland Rally

A trio of Pirelli-backed drivers will be hoping to make their mark on this Easter weekend’s Circuit of Ireland Rally, round four of the FIA European Rally Championship.

Reigning British champion Jukka Korhonen, 2014 Pirelli Star Driver Daniel McKenna and Neil Simpson, the Super 2000 class winner on last month’s Rallye Le Touquet, are all contesting the Belfast-based event from 17-19 April.

Korhonen/Marko Salminen, and McKenna/Arthur Kierans will both be in Citroen DS3 R3Ts. Simpson will be back in his Skoda Fabia S2000 with Claire Mole co-driving for his Circuit of Ireland debut. The 41-year-old Skoda dealer, who will run the new Pirelli RX tyre on his Fabia, said: “I’ve never contested the Circuit of Ireland before, so in addition to looking forward to doing such a famous rally for the first time, I’m also really looking to competing in a round of the European championship and against the very best Super 2000 and R5 cars and drivers.”

This year’s Circuit of Ireland, based at the Titanic Quarter in Belfast, starts with a qualifying stage on Thursday (April 17) followed by a ceremonial start at Belfast City Hall that evening. Ten stages will be run on Friday, including the new Ards TT Town Centre stage in Newtownards, and a further eight on Saturday including the 18-mile Bronte Homeland test and two spectator stages in Lisburn.

Perez wins but Bird dealt a blow in BTRDA title challenge

BTRDA Rally Series frontrunner Paul Bird suffered a major setback on last weekend’s Betta Somerset Stages when a broken driveshaft on his Dom Buckley Motorsport-prepared Ford Focus WRC07 cost him the chance of victory.

Cumbrian Bird had been leading when disaster struck two stages from home, causing his Pirelli-shod Focus to leave the road and run into a ditch and retirement. It allowed Steve Perez’s similar Pirelli-shod car to come through for the win. The result means that Bird, who is also the boss of a MotoGP and British Superbike team, is now fourth in the standings after three rounds having previously led the series.

Bird, who is co-driven by Aled Davies, said: “I’m gutted as we were flying and on for the win. But you can't legislate for parts breaking and that's the nature of the sport. We really needed a strong finish here as dropped scores could be the key. With my other commitments coming up, I need all the points I can get, which is why I decided to come here rather than be with my MotoGP team in Texas.”

Although Bird retired, nine of the top 10 finishers were using Pirelli tyres.

The next BTRDA round is the Plains Rally on May 17.


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