Pirelli will continue enduring association with MSA British Rally ChampionshipTyre manufacturer Pirelli will be present in the forthcoming MSA British Rally Championship in a yet-to-be finalised capacity.
The BRC didn’t run in 2015, and the championship has been considerably re-formatted for its 2016 re-launch. The top-level cars will be R5, RRC and S2000 specification, and the final calendar for the season was confirmed last week.
There will be seven events across the British Isles, and the championship will now conclude with the iconic Rally Isle of Man in September. The Nicky Grist Stages, based in Wales, will be a part of the championship and will be the first mixed-surface BRC round since 1987.
The Pirelli Carlisle Rally will be the third round of the series, and it will return to a two-day format. The rally will begin in Carlisle city centre and the stages will run through the legendary Kielder Forest on 30 April and 1 May.
The nature of Pirellis involvement in the BRC is likely to be announced at the Autosport International Show at Birmingham’s NEC in January.
2016 BRC calendar 5/6 March Mid-Wales Stages, Newtown, Gravel 8/9 April Circuit of Ireland, Belfast, Asphalt 30 April/1May Pirelli Carlisle Rally, Carlisle, Gravel 25 June RSAC Scottish Rally, Dumfries, Gravel 9/10 July Nicky Grist Stages, Builth Wells, Gravel and Asphalt 19/20 August Ulster Rally, Asphalt 15/17 September Rally Isle of Man, Douglas, Asphalt
BRC will run for R5 cars. Pirelli's plans will be announced in the New Year
Time Attack announces three-year partnership with PirelliThe MSA Time Attack Championship will be supplied exclusively by Pirelli for the next three years, from the start of 2016.
Time Attack has realigned its classes to encourage closer competition and has also put a greater focus on competitors.
“We’re delighted to welcome back Pirelli as our official tyre partner,” said Championship Owner Andy Barnes. “We have such a wide variety of cars, drivelines and power outputs within Time Attack that a sole tyre supply has always been a challenge.
“I’m therefore pleased to confirm that by working closely with Pirelli we’ve now been able to secure the best solution and package for our teams and the championship.”
“The MSA Time Attack Championship is unique,” said Pirelli Motorsport Operations Manager Matthew Corby. “At entry-level there are cars that are only slightly modified to that of standard, whilst at the other end of the scale there are high-powered, purpose-built machines capable of setting lap times edging circuit records.”
Introduced in the UK in 2006, the MSA Time Attack Championship has grown into the largest and most professional series of its kind. It attracts drivers and teams from all corners of the UK as well as many from overseas and features cars that the thousands of spectators and on-line supporters can readily relate to.
Each event features four sessions of at least 15-minutes: Warm-up, Practice, Qualifying and the Final. Championship points are scored in Qualifying and the Final, whilst the results for each event are based on the fastest lap times set in the Final session.
To ensure close competition, cars are split into different categories and classes that recognise potential lap times, modifications and drive-lines.
2016 Time Attack Championship calendar 24 April Cadwell Park 22 May Pembrey 19 June Brands Hatch 9 July Oulton Park 21 August Croft 25 September Snetterton
Pirelli will be the exclusive tyre partner of Time Attack
F4 Champion Will Palmer wins prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC awardBRDC Formula 4 Champion Will Palmer will test a McLaren Formula 1 car as part of his prize for winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award on Sunday.
Palmer won the F4 title on Pirelli tyres, and with Pirelli’s exclusive partnership with Formula 1, he’ll also use Pirelli tyres when he tests the McLaren next year.
The award is for the best up-and-coming British driver, and the six finalists are put through their paces across a two-day assessment in racing cars and in an interview stage at the McLaren Technology Centre. Previous winners include David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Anthony Davidson and Dario Franchitti.
“Now that I'm here as the winner, it's absolutely unbelievable,” said Palmer. “The first day was my first experience of all the cars, which are a lot quicker than my BRDC Formula 4 car, so I went away after that, thought about where I could improve and managed to pull out some laps that I was very happy with.”
“He impressed all of us,” said BRDC President Derek Warwick. “It was almost unanimous [among the judges] after the last run on the last day, it was almost decided there and then before the final interviews.”
Will Palmer won the prestigious McLaren Autosport Award on Sunday
Pirelli-backed Porsche Champions honoured at Awards DinnerPorsche Club Motorsport held its awards dinner near Tewkesbury recently. Champions from the Fuel Protect Porsche Club Championship with Pirelli, the Porsche Club Speed Championship with Pirelli and the Porsche Club National Hillclimb Championship were all given their trophies.
Fuel Protect Porsche Club Championship with Pirelli: Pete Morris took the title for the second year in a row in a hugely competitive season where six different drivers won races outright and the title battle went right down to the final race.
Porsche Club Speed Championship with Pirelli: Geraint Evans was another to take consecutive overall titles, winning Class Two and taking the overall crown by the slender margin of 0.17 points after a close and exciting year of competition.
Porsche Club National Hillclimb Championship: Robert Lancaster-Gaye is the inaugural Porsche Club Hillclimb Champion in his Porsche 997 Turbo, the new for 2015 series proving popular as it focussed on the testing discipline at some of the UK’s best-known hillclimb venues.
The prizes were handed out by Wayne Nicholas, Marketing Director of Pirelli, while the club’s Motorsport Patron, Le Mans winner and former Formula One racer Richard Attwood, was in attendance.
“We’ve had some exciting and close competition across the season,” said Motorsport Manager Steve Kevlin. “And planning is already underway for 2016 where we are hoping we can provide the same again for our competitors and supporters!”
1 Motorsport Award Winners 2015The Porsche Club Motorsport award winners
Pirelli confirms Welsh Forest Rally Championship backingPirelli has confirmed that it will continue to sponsor the MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship in 2016, for the fifth year in succession.
Interest in the Welsh series has continued to grow, with seven of the eight 2015 rounds attracting over 30 registered contenders.
While just over a third of those drivers chose to run Pirelli tyres, 75 per cent of the podium finishers across the season were on Pirelli rubber. And 11 of the 13 end of season awards went to Pirelli-shod competitors.
“We couldn’t ask for a more supportive partner than Pirelli,” said Championship Co-ordinator David Evison. “It’s recognition of the success of the series and the individual events involved. 2015 has been a particularly good year for the Championship with strong support from competitors, for which we’re also very grateful.”
The 2016 series will open with the Cambrian Rally on 13 February and will consist of eight rounds.
2016 MSA Welsh Rally Championship calendar 13 February Cambrian Rally 6 March Mid Wales Stages 2 April Rally North Wales 14 May Plains Rally 4 June Severn Valley Stages 9 July Nicky Grist Stages 3 September Woodpecker Stages 12 November Wyedean Stages
More cars on Pirellis in 2016 Ferrari Formula ClassicThe Ferrari Formula Classic end-of-season trophies were awarded to the 2015 champions last week, and some key news for 2016 was announced.
Tim Walker was awarded the coveted Driver of the Year Trophy for his numerous wins in the hotly-contested Class 3.
Meanwhile, after many years of being a predominantly Ferrari 328-based series, next year Ferrari 348s, 550s and 355s will be eligible to race. The exact specification of the cars have yet to be confirmed.
Next year’s series will include 15 races, and two overseas events. There will be a visit to Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on 22-24 July and to Val de Vienne in France on 2-5 June. The championship will begin with the Pre-season Funday at Oulton Park on 27 February.
Popular Pirelli-supported R.A.C. Rally Championship calendar confirmedThe R.A.C. Rally Championship, which has grown in popularity in recent years, has confirmed the details of its 2016 events.
Pirelli is one of the tyre suppliers that is affiliated with the series, and will continue to be in the five-event 2016 season.
There is a double-header round on the Isle of Man Classicagh, which runs on 15-17 September, which means there will be a total of six rounds within the five rallies.
There is also a trip to Belgium for the Salamandre Rally on 23/24 April. The other rallies are the Harry Flatters Rally, the Cheviot Stages and the Bovington Stages.
Two of the events, the Harry Flatters Rally and the Isle of Man Rally Classicagh, are also rounds of the MSA British Historic Rally Championship. Crews will be able to score points towards both championships on those two events.
