It was the perfect result for Phillip Morrow in Saturday’s Rally Yorkshire, when he scored his sixth Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge victory of the season and in doing so, became the 2007 Champion with one round still to go. Based in Pickering, the event featured 11 special stages covering a total of 100 competitive miles, most of which was within the forests of the North Yorkshire Moors. Not only a round of the Evo Challenge, the event was also round of the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship, which saw an overall entry of 40 crews, 11 being registered Mitsubishi competitors - five of which finished in the top ten overall! Morrow went to the event sporting a significant 18-point lead, which meant that he needed to score at least six points by finishing fifth or higher to secure the title, with Welshman Sebastian Ling the only driver within a mathematical chance of spoiling the young Ulsterman’s glory. Not knowing whether to drive at a reduced pace and run the risk of losing concentration or get down to business as usual, Morrow decided that a cautious approach was the order of the day. Therefore, he was surprised to emerge from the first stage in his familiar position of first in the Evo Challenge, with a time good enough to put him in fifth place overall. David Bogie was second quickest of the Evos with Ling third, both drivers reporting overshoots and spins in unpredictably slippery conditions. But later that morning the few seconds lost here-and-there was to become the least of their worries. Try as he might to get in the way of Morrow reaping his reward, Ling’s gallant efforts were dashed when a driveshaft sheared on stage two and he collected a puncture on SS4, the upshot of which lost him two and-a-half minutes and a drop down the Mitsubishi leader-board to seventh. With Bogie keen to record his first Evo Challenge victory of the season, he upped his pace on SS2 and went into the lead, extending his advantage on stage three after Morrow also broke a driveshaft. However, it all went wrong for Bogie on SS4 when he slid wide and clipped a rock which flipped his car upside-down. Thankfully he and his co-driver Robert Fagg emerged unscathed, but the same could not be said for his Mitsubishi. SS4 also nearly spelt the end of Morrow’s day, when he had to avoid a stray digger in the stage! Fortunately he saw the solid obstacle in advance and, after negotiating it, he and co-driver Daniel Barritt dutifully stopped at the next radio point to report the incident before completing the stage. Although losing time, Morrow still held the lead, but was now just six seconds ahead of Daniel Barry who was out to prove the pace he has shown during the season, with Stephen Petch now third having set the fastest Evo Challenge time on stage four. The main service halt of the day was followed by a short spectator stage in Pickering Showground, which although only half-mile long, saw the exit of Alan Carmichael, who’s Evo’s transmission started making strange noises when first gear broke as he left the start-line. It was then back to the forests for stages six and seven, where Barry was slowed by a broken gearbox mounting. This subsequent loss of time allowed Petch to snatch second place, but arguments with banks and chicanes - plus a loose differential mounting, meant that he slipped back to third on SS8. With Elsmore and his co-driver for this event Patrick Walsh now familiarised and going faster, an optimistic pacenote saw them go straight on at a junction and squeeze their Evo between two boulders, specifically placed there by the forestry commission to stop cars going beyond that point! Amazingly, no damage was incurred and they continued, albeit having to renegotiate the gap to return to the stage! Icelandic Rally Champion Daniel Sigurdarson with his sister and co-driver Asta Sigurdardottir were thoroughly enjoying their visit to the UK until a rear suspension arm mysteriously broke on a road section between stages six and seven. However, they weren’t going to let this spoil their event - or the co-driver’s 18th birthday - and once repaired they went on to take sixth place, their highest finish in the Evo Challenge so far. Also enjoying his day and running for most of it in sixth place - right up until stage eight - was Thomas Naughton with new co-driver Terry Wilson, their excellent run brought to an end when their car’s differential took a turn for the worse. With three stages left to go, crews held their breath and did their best to keep out of trouble until the end - except for Sebastian Ling, who decided that now he couldn’t win the championship, he would show the rest of the Mitsubishi field just what he was capable of, as he proceeded to set five fastest stage times. But it was Morrow’s day and, as he came to a halt at the stop line of the final stage, the combination of delight and relief on his face signified the end of four years of trying to win the most sought-after prize in British rallying. “I can’t believe it! The team and I have worked so hard for this for the past four years, it’s difficult to describe what I’m feeling right now”, said Morrow. “This has been a great season where I have been able to put all of my bad luck behind me and use the experience I’ve gained during the past three seasons. I’m now really looking forward to next year and a full assault in the British Championship.” The eighth and final round of the Evolution Challenge takes place in just two weeks time on 20th October, when the championship returns to the National Gravel Championship for the north-Wales based Bulldog Rally. The series is backed by Mitsubishi Motors UK Ralliart, with support from its associate sponsors: Pirelli, PIAA, Speedline Corse, Sparco, Performance Friction Brakes, Shell Helix and Tesco 99 Octane - suppliers of the controlled fuel for the championship. ENDS Photo Caption
Phillip Morrow became the 2007 Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge champion this weekend, when he scored his sixth victory of the season on the Rally Yorkshire. He celebrated the win with co-driver Daniel Barritt (copyright free image). | 
Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge - Round Seven
RSS
dullari
hvilberg
dabba
gudni-is
ehrally
teamseastone
ajrally
biggibraga
motormynd
mth-racing
rally
gustav
hhbe
team-pinky
elvaro
eyjo
gullibriem
ingvarari
evorally
raggim
sigurlaugdora
rallysport
teamyellow
Athugasemdir
Frįbęrt hjį ykkur. Innilega til hamingju, žetta bošar gott hvaš framhaldiš varšar.
Gaman aš lesa um ykkur ķslendingana žarna ķ reportinu..
Keep on going !!
gudni.is, 8.10.2007 kl. 21:10
Bęta viš athugasemd [Innskrįning]
Ekki er lengur hęgt aš skrifa athugasemdir viš fęrsluna, žar sem tķmamörk į athugasemdir eru lišin.