The Pirelli-supplied Porsche Club Championship has announced a new title sponsor for the 2015 season.
Fuel Protect, which offers roadside support to drivers who have filled their car with the wrong fuel, has taken on the title sponsor role for the series, which will also benefit from television coverage on Motors TV once more. As in 2014, a one-hour programme will be broadcast after each event with schedule details to be confirmed.
The championship is also inviting drivers to take part in two rounds on Grand Prix circuits this year at Silverstone in June and Brands Hatch in August. The larger grid size at both venues means series organisers can run an invitation class for non-registered drivers.
The Porsche Club Championship, for which Pirelli is the sole tyre supplier, takes place over seven rounds starting at the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit on May 2.
While Pirelli’s 2015 motorsport season launch took place in Melbourne last week, prior to the Australian Grand Prix, the event was streamed live via a Google Hangout to a select group of journalists assembled at Pirelli’s London offices in the iconic Gherkin, designed by Sir Norman Foster.
Joining the group of journalists was a special guest: reigning GP3 champion Alex Lynn, who will compete in GP2 this year alongside his new role as development driver for Williams in Formula One.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery outlined the company’s global competition plans for 2015 on both two and four wheels, with the London journalists able to ask questions directly to the panel in Melbourne. There were also some video presentations from top stars of motorsport such as Niki Lauda, Daniel Ricciardo and Robert Kubica.
Pirelli-backed F4 has global appeal Two promising overseas drivers have been announced for this year’s Pirelli-supported Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship.
Teenager Akhil Rabindra will race for 2013 Winter Championship winner Douglas Motorsport following considerable success in last year’s Formula BMW series in India, where he finished second in the standings with nine podiums and two race wins. Rabindra, 18, who was also part of the FIA Institute’s Young Driver Excellence Academy last year, said he was “very excited” to be racing in the UK.
Hernan Fallas will become the first Argentinian to race in F4 when he joins Mark Godwin Racing for 2015. The 20-year-old has competed in the Formula Metropolitana series at home for the last two years, achieving five pole positions and two wins last season.
“The amount of track time in the Duo BRDC F4 Championship is extremely impressive and, as it is my first year racing in Europe, I need as much track time as possible,” said Fallas.
This year’s F4-013 cars will run on bespoke P Zero tyres distributed from Pirelli’s logistics hub in Didcot, Oxfordshire. The 2015 season comprises 24 races over eight weekends starting at Oulton Park on 4-6 April.
New look for Pirelli runners on Colin McRae stages Organisers of this year’s Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, part of the Pirelli-backed MSA Scottish Rally Championship, have revealed details of a new event format.
The October 3-4 event will for the first time start on a Saturday afternoon with crews contesting two or three stages before an overnight halt. The action will then resume on Sunday morning with another two to three stages.
This year’s rally also has a new base, swapping Aberfeldy for a Perth city centre start. Organisers are still working on the final route for the event, the last of eight rounds in the championship for which Pirelli is the tyre partner.
“We wanted to try something new and different,” said Jim Brown, president of event organiser the Coltness Car Club. “But there is another benefit for competitors – they won’t need to take time off work on Friday to travel to the rally. The event will be contained entirely within two days.”
“We are also contemplating providing some form of entertainment on Saturday evening. Last year we had a Rally Forum and we had a full house for that.”
