Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge - 7. umferð. Fréttatilkynning

1st October 2007

Printer Version

The International Rally Yorkshire on Saturday 6th October hosts round seven of this year’s Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge and, with just six points to find on either this and round eight, current championship leader Phillip Morrow has the opportunity to secure the title this weekend.

The event, which also hosts round five of the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship, sees an overall entry of 38 cars, 13 of which are competing for the Mitsubishi series - a figure that represents 34% of the International field.
2006 saw the first time the Evo Challenge visited this event, organisers keen to return this year to provide Mitsubishi crews a chance to compete in the forests of the North Yorkshire Moors.

Currently enjoying an 18-point lead, Morrow has to finish fifth or higher in the Evo Challenge standings to win the championship. Based on his form this season, with no less than five victories under his belt, the task may appear easy, but anyone involved with the sport knows that the most predictable thing about rallying is its unpredictability!

The only driver that can mathematically take Morrow’s glory is South Wales’ Seb Ling and, even though he has to score at least six points more than the young Ulsterman on this round, he has pledged to fight to the end.  However, things could well have been different if Ling had not suffered a few frustrating results during the course of the season.

With third-placed Julian Reynolds realising his challenge for the 2008 Mitsubishi prize drive is over, he has opted not to complete the season. Therefore, following the two title aspirants is the battle for the remaining podium places, with David Bogie showing that there’s definitely more to come from this Scottish youngster and Nik Elsmore still in with a shout of the top three.
Back behind the wheel of his Mitsubishi is former British Champion Jonny Milner, who, although registered for the Evolution Challenge, has sportingly announced he will not take any points from this event, so as not to effect the battle between the series front-runners.

Debuting their new (or refurbished) Evolution IXs on gravel this weekend will be Connor McCloskey, who is another driver returning to the Evo Challenge fold, followed by Daniel Barry and Alan Carmichael, the latter two drivers committed to a full season in the Mitsubishi series, with the view of a major assault next year.

Running one car ahead of Carmichael is local to this event Stephen Petch, who could still end his season on the championship podium if he gets a good run on home turf and consolidate his position for the PIAA Junior Award for under 25-year old drivers.

Organisers are pleased to see late entries come from Thomas Naughton and the recently crowned Icelandic Rally Champion Daniel Siguordasson, who is making another trip from his home land to contest the Mitsubishi series in the UK.

The category for closer to standard specification Evolution Lancers is also reaching its climax. It is now being fought out between Wayne Radford and its current leader Miles Johnston, who will be driving his recently acquired Evo VIII as opposed to his former Evo VI for the first time this weekend.

The International Rally Yorkshire starts and finishes from Pickering Showground, the venue also providing the event’s main service area and a tricky half-mile spectator stage. The event gets underway at 9.15 on Saturday morning and features a total of 100 competitive miles split into 11 special stages in the forests over the North Yorkshire Moors, with the finish back in Pickering at 6.00pm.