The Carlisle-based Pirelli International Rally will be used as a round in four major championships in 2019.

After the fantastic response to last year’s Pirelli International Rally, the event will be a part of the 2019 MSA British Rally Championship, organised by the Cumberland Sporting Car Club.

It will also be a round of the FIA Celtic Trophy, the Fuchs British Historic Rally Championship and the Motoscope Northern Historic Championship.

The Pirelli International Rally has been based in Carlisle for many years, where sponsors Pirelli will this year celebrate 50 years of tyre production.

The event’s headquarters and main service area will be located at the vast H & H Borderway Mart complex, handily located off the M6 motorway.

A revised format for the 2018 rally, which featured two laps of the Kielder Forest, went down a storm with both competitors and spectators, as did the rally finish in Brampton’s town centre.

There, another huge crowd of rally fans are expected to fill the main street, helping to create a carnival atmosphere as the cars cross the finish line and the winners lift their trophies this year.

“We are absolutely delighted to again be included in so many of these premier rally series’ and to have the opportunity to bring top drivers from all over Europe to Carlisle,” a spokesman for the Pirelli International Rally said.

“It requires some serious hard work to produce an event of the standard required by these prestigious series. 

“But we are fortunate in having a dedicated and enthusiastic team who excel at everything they are asked to do and work tirelessly to make sure the event retains its top-level status.”

A feature of the Pirelli International Rally is the tremendous economic boost that it brings to Carlisle.

Hundreds of hotel rooms are booked up by the competing teams, visiting officials and the hordes of rally enthusiasts who follow the event. 

That means many establishments are booked out months in advance, ensuring the city’s hospitality trade enjoy a bumper weekend.

The 2019 Pirelli International Rally will take place on Saturday, April 27.

Visit www.pirelliinternationalrally.co.uk or email media manager Ed Graham on edgraham01@sky.com for more information.