Competitors in the MSA Time Attack Championship have welcomed Pirelli to the series following the announcement of the Italian tyre manufacturers three year commitment from 2016 to 2018.

Darren Spooner, Peugeot 205 driver and owner of performance tuning company Spoox Components, said the change will have a big impact on the sport. “It’ll level the playing field,” he said “It’ll put the emphasis on car set-up and driver ability, rather than hearing comments like ‘he’s running particular tyres…’. But eventually everyone will find a way to go quicker and to get the best out of the tyre. The other thing is the on-site support will be helpful, especially to the smaller teams and drivers.”

Spooner said he was already testing the Trofeo R tyres: “It’s a bit of a challenge and we welcome that. The biggest challenge is to get heat into the rear tyres, that’s proving difficult due to the compound of the rubber. It’s the same for everybody. The cars were set-up to work with a specific tyre, so now the goalposts have changed a little.”

Pirelli will supply its Trofeo R tyre to competitors, which is a road-based track tyre. The Pro Classes can use Pirelli Competition Slicks. Time Attack drivers can get discounts on their tyres by ordering direct from Pirelli. Pirelli will also provide a free-of-charge on-event fitting service.