Cork rally fanatic voted new Pirelli girl

Rally fanatic Juliet Ward from Cork has been voted the first ever Irish winner in the 2002 rallyXS Pirelli Girl competition.

Juliet, 21, made it through to the finals from thousands of entries, where she competed with 22 other stunning contenders at the exclusive Stoke Park Golf Club - famous for 007 James Bond’s game of golf with arch villain Goldfinger.

The brainy law graduate wowed judges as she went through a series of photo shoots, interviews, tests and tasks and was picked to be one of six finalists.

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.

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 “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 rally car and appear in rallyXS throughout the 2003 season. Her first assignment will be the Sanremo Rally in Italy this month.