IRISH BEAUTY BEATS THE COMPETITION TO BE THE NEW rallyXS PIRELLI GIRL

Posted: September 17, 2002 3:06 PM

The lovely Juliet set about meeting her rally heroes and going to motorsport events all around Ireland to drum up support. Her hard work paid off when she was announced as the 2002 rallyXS Pirelli Girl on Sunday 15 September.

Juliet said yesterday " I can't wait to have a ride in the rally car and meet all the drivers, I'm the biggest rally fan so this will be my dream job for the next year."

"Over 50,000 votes were cast on www.wrc.com, making this competition far and away the most popular promotion that we have run in the magazine. It demonstrates the growing appeal of the new World Rally. Juliet is a gorgeous girl who I have no doubt will do rallyXS and Pirelli proud." Said Andrew Golby, editor of rallyXS.

Martin Pallot, International Motorsport Events Manager of Pirelli Tyres, said of the outcome "The rallyXS Pirelli Girl competition is great for the Pirelli brand and lifestyle it represents. For Juliet, this is a fantastic opportunity to enjoy all the motorsport events while travelling around the world. She will be a real asset to the both Pirelli and the sport."

As the new rallyXS Pirelli Girl, Juliet will get a one-year contract with rallyXS magazine and Pirelli. She will work with Pirelli> '> s top drivers, take a ride in a 300bhp, £350,000 rally car and appear in rallyXS throughout the 2003 season. Her first assignment will be the Sanremo Rally in Italy this month.

The World Rally Championship (WRC) has always been one of the most demanding and challenging motorsport competitions on the planet. But over the last 18 months, WRC has undergone an unprecedented rise in popularity thanks to technological improvements in TV and network coverage.

Pitting man and machine against the harshest elements nature can throw at them, WRC takes place in 14 countries across four continents. In the UK, Channel 4 has committed to broadcasting at least 3 hours of prime time TV for each of the 14 events in the WRC calendar, bringing the WRC to more people than ever before. Combined with the popularity of the 'official ' WRC PlayStation 2 game and www.wrc.com everyone in the UK can now truly appreciate the spills and thrills of this sport.

From January to November the world's best drivers do battle in some of the harshest environments on the planet - from the snow and ice of Sweden, the unforgiving mountain roads of Spain and Corsica, to the desert tracks of Africa and Australia - building to a finale in the muddy Welsh forests in Great Britain.

The Championship is about real heroes including past and current world champions Colin McRae and Richard Burns, real roads and real driving and along the way, the teams, drivers and co-drivers experience every imaginable condition, environment, terrain and culture.

It's not just about sitting behind the wheel of a £400,000 WRC car, which are all road legal machines derived from marques we all know such as the Ford Focus and the Subaru Imprezza: a top-class World Rally Championship driver must be instinctive, brave, technical and tactically skilful. He must also be passionate, concentrated, precise and having unflinching trust in his co-driver. They both need to be a bit mad!

More Info on www.wrc.com

---

29/07/02
Juliet Ward Rally XS/ Pirelli Girl 2002 Finalist
Pirelli and RallyXS magazine have joined forces to offer Ireland’s Juliet Ward the opportunity of a lifetime, as she takes on five other finalists in the prestigious 2002 RallyXS Pirelli Girl competition. The search, which was launched in the June edition of RallyXS magazine, offers the lucky winner the opportunity to enter the exciting world of motorsport by becoming the glamorous new face of Pirelli.

The competition, which has also featured in Sunday paper, the “News of the World”, has drawn entries from an international field, including USA, Denmark, France, and Finland, as well as a multitude of entries from the UK and Ireland.

From this entry of thousands, the field has been narrowed down to just six stunning finalists, Juliet being the only Irish finalist, with the winner joining our group of glamorous Pirelli girls. The prize consists of a series of assignments to represent Pirelli and RallyXS on the World Rally Championship. In addition, the winner will take a thrilling ride in a World Rally Car over a genuine rally stage with a top rally driver at the wheel.

If Juliet becomes the eventual winner she will be given the opportunity to travel the world, and rub shoulders with rallying’s elite, including Pirelli’s WRC star drivers, Colin McCrae, Carlos Sainz, Tommi Makinen, Petter Solberg and Markko Martin.

Juliet says, “This is a fantastic competition, with an unbelievable prize. I am a genuine supporter of Rallying and have trekked through enough fields in the pouring rain to reach stages of many Irish rallies to have earned a place on the Pirelli team! I’d even make tea for the teams if it meant I could see one of the WRC events!! Ireland has always been a great supporter of rallying and its about time we had an Irish Pirelli girl representing Ireland on the WRC circuit! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, to succeed I will need all the Irish support I can get. We all cheered on the Irish team during the World Cup, now please vote for the Irish girl… me!

This opportunity will change the life of the chosen girl and you are given the chance to support Juliet by voting for her in this competition. In reward for her hard-work, determination and enthusiasm, you can help her on her way with this fabulous opportunity by voting for her at
www.pirelli.co.uk
and www.wrc.com, the official website of the World Rally Championship.
All six finalists will go forward for a public phone vote, and to vote for Juliet call 0901 381 0165 (UK) or +44 870 010 8650.

---

A few words from Juliet

Hi all
I'm Juliet Ward and I'm proud to tell you that I'm a finalist in the Rally XS Pirelli Girl of 2002 Competition, the only Irish finalist to be exact! I entered the competition in June through Rally XS magazine. In July I was invited to England to take part in the final stage, competing against 23 other girls. After the plane journey from hell, an insane cab driver and a tube strike I found myself on the doorstep of Stoke Park Golf Club surrounded by a bevvie of beauties! The final day in itself was fantastic, we had photo shoots, interviews, played the Playstation WRC game and had quizzes about rallying. At the end of the day the final six were announced and I was one of them, I couldn't believe it, the only other thing I've ever won was an egg and spoon race when I was 5! I can honestly say that out of the six finalists not only am I the only one who is Irish (!) but I'm also the only one with a genuine interest in rallying, having surprised my parents by developing an interest in the sport about 5 years ago. When we were suprised with the prize of all going to Prodrive to testdrive the WRC Subaru I nearly fainted... the other girls asked me what Prodrive was! My dream would be to win the WRC but realistically I've a better chance at being the first Irish Promotional Pirelli Girl! I would love to be a part of the WRC so much that I'd make tea for the teams!

The winner of the competition will receive a years contract with DLP Models and will represent both Pirelli and Rally XS on the WRC circuit, a once in a lifetime opportunity. The means by which the winner is chosen is through a phone and online voting system, which is why I need as much Irish support as possible to compete against the UK girls! Ireland has always been a great supporter of rallying and its about time we had an Irish Pirelli girl on the circuit!
Vote online at www.pirelli.co.uk
and www.wrc.com, the official website of the World Rally Championship.
All six finalists will go forward for a public phone vote, and to vote for Juliet call 0901 381 0165 (UK) or +44 870 010 8650.

I'm 21, have just received an Honours Law degree from UCC, inlcuding a Marketing and Management module and work as a Promotional Rep for products such as Heineken and M&Ms. I have a passion for rallying and to win this competition would be a dream come true.  

Extract from wrc.com:
The search for the 2002 rallyXS Pirelli Girl is reaching its climax and from an entry of thousands the field has been narrowed down to just six super sexy girls^Å And now comes the hard bit ^Ö choosing a winner!  

The lucky model who wins this fantastic prize will land a contract as a Pirelli Girl for a year, get a ride in a World Rally Car and appear on Channel 4's rally show. So read the biographies of the six finalists below, take a close look at the full-sized portraits of the girls in our gallery, then make your vote on the polls at the right of this page^Å   

For the full story of the final see the next issue of rallyXS magazine, out on August 1.