The Pirelli Star Driver programme is designed to find rallying's most talented and promising young drivers from the FIA Regional Championships in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. Each of the regional series will host a Shoot Out competition as a finale to the qualification process, with the successful five drivers (one each from Africa, Asia Pacific and the Middle East, and two from Europe) being awarded a six-event FIA World Rally Championship programme for 2010.
The drivers selected to compete in the 2009 European Shoot Out are:
| Austria Bulgaria Czech Republic Estonia Italy Latvia Lithuania Netherlands Norway Romania San Marino Slovenia Sweden Switzerland |
Daniel Wollinger Todor Slavov Jan Černý Ott Tänak Davide di Benedetto Maris Neiksans Vytautas Svedas Timo van der Marel Anders Kjaer Valentin Porcisteanu Alex Raschi Marko Jeram Victor Henriksson Brian Lavio |
In accordance with the regulations, the Regional Commission is also permitted to select a 'Wild Card' entry to participate in the Shoot Out. Based on driving performance, the following driver has been invited to attend the Shoot Out:
| Italy | Andrea Torlasco |
The two winners from the European Shoot Out will be chosen based on their overall performance, irrespective of car and timed results, and part of the selection process will also be an interview held with each driver, in English, to assess their ability to communicate with the media.
