2009 PIRELLI STAR DRIVER-Vol.2

The FIA-instigated Pirelli Star Driver programme, the World Rally Championship’s first global young driver development scheme, is underway. Five of the most talented and promising rally drivers in the world began their training and testing in Scotland and Italy last week. 

The five drivers, Jarkko Nikara (23, Finland); Martin Semerád (18, Czech Republic); Mark Tapper (28, New Zealand), Nicos Thomas (21, Cyprus) and Jon Williams (26, South Africa), met for the first time in Edinburgh on Monday (2 March) where they - and their co-drivers - were put through the first stage of an intensive training regime, devised by 2001 FIA World Rally Champion co-driver Robert Reid. On Thursday evening (5 March), the new team of young hopefuls flew from Edinburgh to Pisa in northern Italy, where they met Ralliart Italia, the team which will run the five Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Xs they will drive on six rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship this season.

The training
The drivers arrived in Edinburgh last Monday afternoon for a team-building session. This was the first time all five drivers and four of the co-drivers (Nicos Thomas’s co-driver Stéphane Prévot was unable to attend the session) had met since they won their respective nominations.

The training was run in the style of a round of the FIA World Rally Championship, with Monday evening taking the roll of the ceremonial start; two full days followed with the session concluding on Thursday at 15:00 hrs, close to the time most WRC rounds cross the finish ramp. The training work was carried out by private company, Elite Sports Performance.

Tuesday was focused on discovering levels of fitness among the group and working on preventing injury, first aid and incident management. Wednesday was partly media-driven and partly a continuation of the physical conditioning. The day started early, however, with an early morning run up Arthur’s Seat – a well-known hill close to the Scottish Parliament buildings in the capital city. After working through interview techniques and presentations, the team moved into the heat chamber, where the problems of dehydration were graphically demonstrated. With the temperature set at 40oC and rising humidity, the drivers and co-drivers completed a 45-minute exercise programme. Before and after this, they completed a series of concentration tests. The results demonstrated an average weight loss of one kilogramme and a 20 per cent downturn in concentration performance.

Thursday morning concluded the session with muscle endurance work, sponsorship and the commercial side of rallying and a nutrition workshop. The team departed Edinburgh for the airport at 15:00 hrs.   

The test
The team, led by Pirelli Star Driver supervisor Phil Short, were met in Pisa by Ralliart Italia personnel. They transferred to a hotel south of the city, in the town of Fattoria Mocajo, where they saw the cars they would be driving for the first time. Ralliart Italia will provide six Mitsubishis for the programme this season: five rally cars and one spare. For this event, the team also provided a full-specification Lancer Evolution X test car.

After a debrief with the team and Short, the five crews went out to recce the 2.5-kilometre test road. They were permitted two recce runs, in keeping with WRC regulations. After that, the crews then drove 25 kilometres each (10 runs at the stage) on Friday afternoon and the same on Saturday morning. Following the first of their two test sessions, the drivers all went into a debriefing session with the two Ralliart Italia engineers who will accompany the entire programme for this season. The weather was largely dry for the test, although there had been heavy rain in the region in the previous week.

On Sunday morning, Martin Semerád and Nicos Thomas, along with their co-drivers, flew to Milan and on to this week’s Cyprus Rally, the latest round of the FIA World Rally Championship, while the rest of the team flew home. Jon Williams flew back to Britain with his co-driver, where he will remain until after Rally de Portugal. 

More learning – but this time with dirty hands
On Saturday afternoon, once the second part of the test was completed, the crews all took part in a workshop on the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. The crews were taken through how to work on the key components on the cars they will drive this season. With limited servicing time permitted on all rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship a solid working knowledge of how to keep their cars mobile under at all times will be vital for the Pirelli Star Drivers this season.

All of the crews showed a good depth of mechanical understanding, with Jon Williams being the only one of the drivers who hadn’t driven or worked on this kind of Group N rally car previously.

Quotes
Robert Reid, ESP co-founder
“The objective was to support the guys in the programme; it’s a great opportunity within the FIA’s official scheme. As far as this three-day session went, we designed it around a round of the World Rally Championship, with long days and high exertion to show the guys how difficult it can be. One of the specific aspects of the programme which worked really well was the heat chamber. Competing on a long rally in the heat, like they will in Greece, will be quite different from what most of them have done before. We demonstrated what was required from them under some fairly extreme conditions here at Edinburgh University. I’m also really pleased with the way the team has gelled so quickly. Apart from their co-drivers, these guys had never met each other before the start of the week, but straight away they’ve all got on together and worked really hard. I think there was a fair bit of anticipation before the start, they didn’t really know what they were in for, but at the end, there’s a real understanding of the value of this aspect of the programme. We will follow this session up with more work, this time in the field, on the rallies in Portugal, Greece and Finland.”

Phil Short, Pirelli Star Driver supervisor
“These guys are pretty well all new to the World Rally Championship and, consequently, have very little experience of life at this level. They’ve learned an awful lot about competing at this level this week. And they haven’t just learned about training in Scotland or testing in Italy, they’ve learned a great deal about themselves. I was very happy with the way the test went, we didn’t have any mechanical problems or anybody going off the road. This first test was about meeting the Ralliart team, getting to know the engineers and feeling comfortable in the car. Everybody did just that. The drivers all used the hard compound Pirelli Scorpion tyre, as they will in Portugal. This was a great opportunity for the guys to sample the tyre in the kind of changeable conditions we’re likely to get in Portugal. This test was a very good way to continue the strong start we made with the training in Edinburgh. I think it’s fair to say everybody’s really looking forward to the first event in Portugal – myself included.”

Jarkko Nikara (Finland)
“I was first in the car, so I have to say, I was a little bit nervous driving like this before all of my new team mates. The engine on the Mitsubishi felt very strong, I was very pleased with the way it went. The one thing which I felt was the anti-lag system was quite strong – when you’re not used to driving a turbo car, this can take some getting used to. The suspension was perfect, the car felt great.”

Martin Semerád (Czech Republic)
“I found the car a little bit unpredictable to start with. I think this could be down to the hard tyre on some fairly damp conditions. I also think it’s partly down to my technique – I need to work on that. But, what a week! It’s been incredible. I had never really done anything like the training we did in Scotland earlier, which was so useful, and then to come out here on the test was great. The cars all look fantastic. It’s going to be a very exciting season.”

Mark Tapper (New Zealand)
“The car worked really well for me. I had to work quite hard to keep it in a straight line under power, but I think that’s probably down to the way I was driving. I need to work on my technique a little bit more; left-foot-braking the car would work better in these conditions. It’s been a great test, though. The training we did with Robert [Reid] and the guys earlier in the week has opened my eyes to a lot. I’d done some of the sports psychology stuff in New Zealand, but not quite in the same detail we went into in Scotland.”

Nicos Thomas (Cyprus)
“The engine feels really strong in the car. It was nice and easy to get into it and drive. I do have some experience with Mitsubishis; I think this would have helped me a little bit. After I have talked to some of the team and the engineers, I think I need to work on the way I drive a little bit, just to get the best out of the car. It’s going to be a fairly busy month for me now, I have to go straight back to Cyprus for the rally next week and then I have the first PSD event in Portugal to look forward to.”

Jon Williams (South Africa)
“Awesome! That’s the only way to describe this week. From the minute I walked into the room and saw Robert Reid standing there, to my last run in the car, it’s been an incredible experience. I’m still pinching myself now. Tell me, am I really here? Is this really happening? The car was fantastic. I’ve never driven a left-hand-drive car in my life, so that’s going to take a bit of getting used to. And, driving a car with a turbocharger is pretty new to me, too. I’ve been used to Super 2000, which is all about revving the engine; I’ve got to get it into my head that I need to shift up the gearbox earlier to make the best use of the Mitsubishi’s power. I feel really comfortable in the car now, though. I think you can probably tell I’m pretty happy with things!”

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