Another BRC podium for Pirelli on Scottish rally

Pirelli maintained its unbroken record of podium finishes in the revived British Rally Championship in 2016 as it occupied four of the top six positions on the Scottish Rally.

Desi Henry finished the Dumfries-based gravel rally in third in his Skoda Fabia R5 to score his first podium of the campaign, building upon the promise shown in previous events so far this year.

He was closely followed on the leaderboard by three other Pirelli drivers. Euan Thorburn put an end to a recent run of unreliability from his Peugeot 208 T16 with a trouble-free run to fourth overall on home soil. Jonny Greer (Citroen DS3 R5) and Josh Moffett (Ford Fiesta R5) were next up, maintaining their top-five positions in the BRC standings.

The Pirelli drivers had the full range of Scorpion gravel tyres at their disposal, including the K4 designed for loose gravel and the softer K6, ideal for the damp conditions that were seen during the afternoon stages.

David Bogie and Fredrik Ahlin had led the Pirelli challenge earlier on the rally as they battled for second place. Ahlin headed the championship coming into the event after his Pirelli Carlisle Rally triumph and was on course for another podium before he suffered a broken propshaft. Bogie was set for a fine result on his home rally but radiator damage prevented him from reaching the finish.

The event was also part of the Scottish Rally Championship, for which Pirelli is the official tyre partner and swept the leading positions. Garry Pearson won a close battle with Jock Armstrong and Mike Faulkner, with the trio separated by just 16 seconds.
Chris Wheeler took the win in the BRC3 category in his Citroen DS3 R3T with Pirelli and moves into the standings lead past BBC Top Gear star Chris Harris, who competed in the season-opening Mid Wales Stages in a Toyota GT86 on Pirelli tyres.

Matthew Corby, Pirelli Motorsport Operations Manager, said: “While only lasting one day, the Scottish Rally was still a challenging event, particularly with changing weather conditions. The podium finish for Desi was a great reward for his strong performances recently, and seven of the top 10 overall finishers across the championships were using Pirelli tyres. It was a shame that Fredrik and David were unable to finish after showing great pace again, but both will no doubt continue to challenge at the front over the coming events.”
The next round of the British Rally Championship is the Nicky Grist Stages, featuring one day on gravel and one day on asphalt, in Wales on July 9-10.