Pirelli International Rally Profile

With the 2005 event moving it’s base back to Carlisle, the Pirelli International Rally comes back to it’s roots for it started out in Cumbria some 30 years ago when the Chairman of Furness Motor Club, Vic Horsley, 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 on the first event. Pirelli arrived as sponsors in 1977 when their Carlisle factory was turned into a giant service area and, with their 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. 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 the rally became the first National Championship event to run overnight and in both 1989 and 1990 it 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, Richard Burns who took the honours, 1994 saw a home win for Malcolm Wilson who, the following year prepared a car for rallying legend 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 motorsport 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.