PIRELLI INTERNATIONAL RALLY 

2012 marks a major milestone for Cumbria's top motorsport event, it is this year that we mark 21 years of sponsorship with Pirelli. 

This the 36th  running of the Carlisle based Pirelli International Rally, now the county's  major motorsport fixture and the 3rd round of the 2012 British Rally Championship. 

The event originated from an inspired idea from the then Chairman of Furness Motor Club, Vic Horsley, who called a meeting of all the counties clubs to get them to come together to organise one big event. The end result of Vic's brainwave was the Tour of Cumbria, an instant hit with over 180 entries thanks to its inclusion in the "Triple C" National series. The first event  used a mix of forest stages and farm tracks, indeed, one stage was along a disused railway line!!. Pirelli arrived as sponsors in 1977 when their Carlisle factory was turned into a giant service area and their staff canteen provided a lunch which became legendary in rally circles. With Pirelli's  continued support, the rally was upgraded to National status. This meant that extra stage mileage was required so the traditional Lake District stages gave way in favour of the giant Kielder Forest complex, the 155,000 acres of Europe's largest man made forest providing some stunning stages. In 1979 the event was included in the Castrol/ Autosport National Championship, then the countries premier series, and was won by a young, up and coming driver from Cockermouth, Malcolm Wilson. 

In 1983, by now called the Andrews Heat For Hire Cumbria Rally,  the event became the first National Championship event to run overnight, the result of holding "Kielder By Moonlight" was an extremely long list of retirements, Andrews  were followed by Shell Oils as sponsors and in both 1989 and 1990, under the guidance of the accomplished Andrew Kellitt,  the rally was voted the best round of the Mintex National Series. Reward for consistently high standards came in 1992 when the rally was elevated to International status and the Pirelli International Rally became a round of the newly constituted Mobil 1 British Rally Championship, bringing top international stars to Cumbria. Future World Champion, Colin McRae won the inaugural event, the following year it was another star of the future, the late Richard Burns who took the honours, 1994 saw a home win for Malcolm Wilson who, the following year prepared a car for rallying legend, "Flying Finn"  Ari Vatannen to take a hugely popular victory.

The organisers of the Pirelli International Rally have always been innovative and in 1997 they ran the championships first "Double Header" event while, with Pirelli's enthusiastic support, they have pioneered the "Rally Show" concept, where spectators can both see the rally cars in action and also enjoy a range of displays and attractions. In 2002 the rally took the bold move of moving to the North East, basing itself in Gateshead, it brought International motor sport to a huge audience in the North East and forged close links with the local council who provided the stunning Baltic Centre as a magnificent starting venue.

Since the popular return to Carlisle, 2012 the portfolio of events has expanded to include the Pirelli Historic Rally, the 3rd round of the Kololi Beach Club MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Pirelli Historic Rally bringing the phenomenal rally cars from yesteryear which are bound to be a big attraction. We are also delighted to welcome contenders in the BRC Challenge series, the Fiesta Sporting Cup, Twingo Renaultsport Trophy, Citroen Racing Trophy and the new BRC Production Cup plus a hopefull return of the Land Rovers.