Pirelli’s gravel and asphalt tyre ranges will both be tested on the next round of the British Rally Championship, the Nicky Grist Stages.
The event is new to the BRC and unique on this year’s calendar as a mixed-surface rally with one day on gravel and one on asphalt. A strong performance on both types of road will be crucial to success, just as it was for event sponsor Nicky Grist during his time as co-driver to Colin McRae in the World Rally Championship: a partnership that took 17 victories over six seasons together on Pirelli tyres at the Subaru and Ford teams.
Based in the Welsh town of Builth Wells, the event’s 45 miles of gravel stages include forest tests also seen on Wales Rally GB in recent years, such as Crychan, Halfway and Monument. At the end of Saturday, the cars will be switched from gravel to asphalt specification for nearly 60 miles on challenging Tarmac roads over the Epynt military ranges on Sunday.
The dual-surface nature of the event means that Pirelli will supply its Scorpion K gravel tyres and P Zero RK asphalt tyres. Both have won in the BRC this season and are available in a number of different compounds to suit the specific conditions faced.
Leading Pirelli’s challenge in the BRC this year is Swedish ace Fredrik Ahlin, who remains firmly in title contention despite a mechanical failure on the recent Scottish Rally. Though more familiar with gravel, he proved his pace on sealed surfaces too when he led the BRC competition on the Circuit of Ireland earlier this year.
Team-mate to Ford Fiesta R5 driver Ahlin in the Pirelli-supplied CA1 Sport team is Skoda Fabia R5 pilot David Bogie, the 2011 British champion. Josh Moffett (Ford) won on the Circuit of Ireland, while Desi Henry (Skoda) and Jonny Greer (Citroen DS3 R5) have also scored podiums this season.
The opening gravel-based day of the rally will also be part of the Pirelli MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship and the BTRDA Rally Series, which are currently led by Luke Francis (Mitsubishi) and Charlie Payne (Ford) respectively, both on Pirelli tyres.
Matthew Corby, Pirelli Motorsport Operations Manager, said: “The Nicky Grist Stages is a great addition to the BRC calendar, offering a unique mixed-surface challenge for the drivers, teams and tyre companies. Strong performance on both gravel and asphalt will be key to a good result, but only Pirelli tyres have won on both surfaces in the BRC so far this year. With two surfaces and three different championships plus many drivers relying on our products, this is a big event for us, but we are confident of great results.”
