The Pirelli International Rally, voted the best round of the 2007 series, kicks off the 2008 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship with one of the best entries seen on a BRC round for some considerable time and, with the regular championship contenders joined by a contingent from Sweden and Finland, plus European Rally Champion Simon Jean-Joseph debuting the new Citroen C2R2 –Max, it would be a brave person who would venture to pick a winner.

The Pirelli International Rally enjoys it’s usual high profile Carlisle city centre with last years winner, and current BRC champions Guy Wilkes/ Phil Pugh ( Mitsubishi Evo 9 ) leading off the field. Right behind him are Mark Higgins/ Rory Kennedy in the new MG S200 Sport, the crew used the recent Border Counties Rally as a test session and their 4^th place showed the cars potential.

Finnish stars Juho Hanninen / Mikko Markula run at three in a Mitsubishi Evo 9, Hanninen scored maximum points on the opening round of the Production World Rally Championship so is obviously no slouch, he’ll need to be quick to stay ahead of 4^th seeded David Higgins/ Ieuan Thomas, out in the Team TQ.com Subaru N14, Higgins, like his brother Mark, is a former Pirelli International Rally winner and always seems to go well on the Kielder stages.

There has been considerable interest surrounding the entry for Simon Jean Joseph/ Jack Boyere in the new Citroen C2R2-Max, Citroen are using the event to give the car it’s UK launch and they come to Carlisle buoyed by a good win on the recent Rally Egar in Hungary.

The rally sees the opening round of the Citroen C2R2 Cup and the man to watch here should be young Irishman Martin McKormack, Martin scored a fine win here last year driving a Mark 2 Escort on the Pirelli Historic Rally so he obviously has a liking for the Cumbrian stages.  The Pirelli International Rally is also the opening round of the Suzuki Swift Cup where the leading runners are Gordon Nichol, Mark Gamble and Ross Forde.

PROGRAMME

The first car on the Pirelli International Rally will leave the  start ramp in Carlisle city centre at 7:15pm on Friday April 18^th. There will be live commentary as the cars depart and the opportunity to take photographs and collect autographs

The first Spectator Stage on the event is SS3, The Valley, which is situated at Kershope Bridge, about 2 miles South of Newcastleton, the first car is due at 8:52pm.  The car park will be clearly signposted from the public road.

The rally continues on Saturday 19^th April with spectator stages in Kielder Forest, situated off the C200 which runs alongside Kielder Water, the first cars are due at 10:35 am and again at 4:21pm. There will be car parking facilities and programme sales points. Spectators can also visit the rallies Service Area throughout the event and see the cars getting worked on. This is situated at Carlisle Airport, just off the Carlisle – Brampton road and has ample car parking, catering and toilet facilities. In addition to seeing the cars being refettled, spectators can also enjoy a race meeting organised by the British Lawnmower Racing Association.

The finish will again be in Carlisle city centre with the first car due across the ramp  at 7:10pm , spectators are welcome to attend and view the prizegiving, complete with the traditional champagne spraying.