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The final round of this year’s Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge UK sees the championship for Group N Lancers join the MSA British Rally Championship for the second time this season, when teams head to Pickering to start the Trackrod International Rally Yorkshire.
Already crowned 2009 UK Evolution Challenge Champions Daniel Barry and co-driver Martin Brady will be back for the final round, having pledged to contest all of the championship’s eight rounds this season. With the title already in the bag they have set their sights on other goals for next weekend and will be looking to compare their performance against the leading British Rally Championship teams, who will be competing in similar specification machinery.
They will also be looking to equal the record for achieving the maximum number of Evolution Challenge victories in one season, an accolade currently held by Phillip Morrow for scoring six wins in 2007. They will therefore be looking for better fortune than that of their previous outing on the Ulster Rally, when they uncharacteristically crashed-out on the first day, the accident being their first of the season.
Currently third in the championship standings, fellow Evolution Challenge competitors Nik Elsmore/Craig Drew could end the season second in the championship if they finish this weekend. For Elsmore, this would be the second time as runner-up, missing out on the title last year on a tie-break decision.
Having scored their first UK Evolution Challenge victory on last month’s Ulster Rally, Alan Carmichael/Ivor Lamont are rounding off their season with a return to England to see if they can transfer their recent pace on asphalt onto the gravel forest roads of Yorkshire.
A notable absentee from the Mitsubishi line up next weekend will be Simon Hughes, who will retain his second place if Elsmore fails to make it to the end of the event. This means that three Evolution Challenge crews will start this weekend, the reduction in numbers an indication of the sport’s position in this year of economic concerns.
The Trackrod International Rally Yorkshire starts and finishes from Pickering Showground. The one-day route of 90 competitive miles includes nine special stages, eight of which use the fast and flowing gravel roads in the forests of the North Yorkshire Moors, added to which is a half-mile spectator stage within the area of the Showgound.
The 2009 Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge is supported by Mitsubishi Motors UK, Ralliart, Pirelli tyres, Sunoco fuels, JR Motorsports, Speedline Corse wheels, Carbone Lorraine brakes, Walkinshaw Performance, Sparco racewear and PIAA lights - who sponsor the junior award for under 25-year old drivers.
Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge entries
10 Daniel Barry (Enniskerry)/Martin Brady (Navan)
11 Nik Elsmore (Coleford)/Craig Drew (Bream)
TBC Alan Carmichael (Ballymena)/Ivor Lamont (Ballymena)
Championship positions after round seven
Drivers
1 Daniel Barry 70
2 Simon Hughes 50
3 Nik Elsmore 43
4 Alan Carmichael 30
5 Owen Murphy 29
6 Daniel Sigurdarson 17
7 Andreas Magnusson 8
8 Neil Armstrong 4
Co-drivers
1 Martin Brady 70
2 Craig Drew 43
3 Craig Parry 40
4 Ivor Lamont 30
5 Dai Roberts 29
6 Patrick Walsh 10
7 Henrik Hulterskog 8
8 Isak Gudjonsson 7
9 Max Ferri 4
ENDS
Photo: This weekend’s Trackrod Rally Yorkshire hosts the eighth and final round of this year’s Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge, where Nik Elsmore and co-driver Craig Drew will be looking to claim second place in the final championship standings (copyright free image).
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