Fiesta SportingTrophy UK series ready to go for 2008
Season number three of the closely fought Fiesta SportingTrophy UK series prepares to start after new announcements to be made at the Autosport Show in Birmingham on 10 January 2008.
The M-Sport promoted series will make some subtle changes to the format and the team partners for 2008 that should help the competitors to both reduce the cost of competing and make the championship even more closely fought.
The first is, the series will change from eight rounds to six – dropping the two tarmac rounds to make the championship even more economical to compete in and to give drivers, looking for the challenge of refining their pacenotes on tarmac events, the chance to compete on the comparable FST series in Ireland. The format of the UK rallies remains the same. All one day, 45 stages miles with a good geographical spread and rallies with a reputation for being good ‘drivers’ events.
The second major change for the 2008 season will be a switch to Pirelli as the supplier of the control tyre for the championship. Pirelli’s investment in UK motorsport is undoubted and with the World Rally Championship moving to Pirelli as a single supplier, it was a logical decision for the FST series to follow suit. Pirelli will produce a control tyre for the FST series and the integration of this manufacturer to the series allows us to work on more initiatives to benefit competitors in the future as well as reducing overall costs for competitors.
A third change for 2008 is the proposal to make a first step towards a greener future as the series converts to E85, Bio-Ethanol as a control fuel. Greenergy will be the supplier of the control fuel that is 85% Ethanol and 15% Petrol. As well as giving a significant reduction in CO2 on the production / consumption cycle, the fuel also gives a useful performance increase to the cars, thereby enabling the FST drivers to improve on their already impressive stage times. The final benefit to competitors is that Greenergy will supply the fuel at a discounted price of £0.85/litre plus VAT in order to encourage the use of this new technology in rallying.
The final change for 2008 is, for the first time, the winner of the series will have a choice of prizes. The winner of the FST UK series will choose between a new Ford Fiesta road car or, as an alternative, will have the chance to win a drive on the 2009 Wales Rally GB in an M-Sport prepared Ford Fiesta ST; a great opportunity for a driver to experience the World Rally Championship and see from behind the scenes how the M-Sport team operates.
One element that will not change for 2008 is the incredibly close level of competition between the competitors and over the past two seasons the FST series has established itself as the place for young drivers to prove themselves. 2007 second-placed driver Alastair Fisher from Northern Ireland will continue in the championship in 2008 as will third placed driver Elfyn Evans from Mid-Wales. Also joining the series will be former 2007 205 Challenge champion, Kris Hall from Appleby, Cumbria and 2007 Ecosse 205 champion, Alick Kerr from Glasgow. They will be joined by fellow Scot, Dave Weston Jr. among the list of new drivers looking to enter the championship for the first time.
The championship will kick-off with a pre-season test day for registered competitors at the Greystoke forest complex on Thursday 28 February 2008 before crews undertake a series of pre-season training sessions including physical fitness, mental preparation and pace-note training at Dovenby Hall, the home of M-Sport, on Friday 29 February 2008 before the first round of the series - the Malcolm Wilson Rally.
Andrew Wheatley, Business Manager at M-Sport said:
“The changes for the 2008 season have been well received by competitors and the level of competition once again looks to be fantastic – the input of Pirelli has been invaluable and the support of Greenergy has enabled us to take this technological step forward. All–in-all we are looking forward to another great season.”
2008 Fiesta SportingTrophy UK Calendar
March 1st- Malcolm Wilson Stages- Cockermouth, Cumbria
April 19th- Pirelli National Rally- Carlisle, Cumbria
May 31st- Severn Valley Rally- Bulith Wells, Mid Wales
July 19th- Swansea Bay Rally- Swansea, South Wales
October 14th- McRae Stages Rally- Perth, Scotland
November 1st- Malton Stages- Malton, Yorkshire