Round 6 - Pro-Art Signs Swansea Bay Rally

STAGE SNIPPETS

• Martin Brady (Dan Barry's co-driver) had been across the Atlantic last weekend to represent the American team in the Rally of Nations in Mexico. He had been co-driving for a Polish driver as part of the two-car American team. The event was won by Manfred Stohl. Niall McShea and Phil Morrow had represented the UK. Martin returned to being an Irishman on Tuesday.

• Icelandic driver Dan Sigurdarson was a late entry in his Mitsubishi Evo X. It was the first time he had contested the stages of the Swansea Bay Rally.

• It was Nathan O'Connors first time out on an event since the Rallye Sunseeker back in February.

• Notable absentees from the regular Mitsubishi Evo Challenge field were Owen Murphy/Dai Roberts, who are in the process of changing cars plus Alan Carmichael/Ivor Lamont, who opted to contest a round of the Irish Evo Challenge, which took place the day after the Swansea Bay event.

• Former ANCRO Champion Paul Bird was absent from the Swansea Bay Rally having just sold his Ford Focus WRC07 to Bajan Paul Bourne and as a result, has ordered a new car, rumoured to be a latest version Ford Focus WRC from M-Sport. He still has his S9 Subaru WRC which is up for sale and as such, didnt want to use it on the event.

Full championship and class positions are available at www.gravelrally.co.uk

NEWS
TRACKROD RALLY TO INCLUDE DALBY 'MEGA' STAGE
A once-a-year chance to tackle the famous Dalby forest stage will be one of the highlights of the 2009 Trackrod Rally Yorkshire, when it runs in the Yorkshire forests on Saturday 26th September.

To celebrate Dalby's significance in rallying history and the fact that it is only available for one rally each year, the event organisers from the Trackrod Motor Club have arranged a stunning 16-mile stage over the classic forest tracks.

"We're calling it the 'mega' stage," said clerk of the course Rod Parkin. "Last year, we split the Dalby section into two stages, but this year we are giving competitors a huge challenge with one, 16-mile stage including the famous 'woodyard'. It will be a big test for everyone and this will be a unique opportunity for crews to sample one of the best-known forest stages in Britain."

The Trackrod Rally has a range of individual events within the overall umbrella to meet the needs of competitors from contenders in the MSA British Rally Championship and Pirelli Gravel Rally Championship through to those in the regional clubmans championships.

To ensure that every crew that enters gets to compete in Dalby, the route has been designed to take all of the individual events into the Dalby stage.

But it is not just competitors who are in for a Dalby treat in September. Whilst the forest will be one of the key spectator locations for the event, the organisers are working in close partnership with the Forestry Commission to ensure that a range of facilities are on hand to make a visit to Dalby, and the Dalby Visitor Centre, a great day out for all the family.

Regulations for the event will be available in early August.

THEY SAID WHAT.?
"I like the Walters Arena stage, its more open like home, there's not a lot of trees." Icelander Daniel Sigurdarson must have been looking for a couple of geysers then...

"I cut my teeth on these stages years ago. I was asleep on stage one." Still trying to fathom out Wug Utting's logic on that one...

After his unusually nervous start, Dan Barry admitted: "It's better now, we just want to keep going and make it to the finish."
Wug Utting after SS4: "I'm out of my pyjamas now." Ah, we see...

"We'll get the hang of it by the end." Ray Cleghorn (Tony Martin's co-driver) admits the rust had set in a little more than anticipated.

"We had a half spin in Walters Arena 2, it's only because I know where I'm going that we didn't lose time!" Local boy from Cardiff, Nathan O'Connor, explains his minimal time loss...

Trevor Martin found the WD40 and said: "It's going much better; its all doing what it should."

Wug Utting: "We've had a Lucozade explosion." This man needs help...

Dan Barry, on winning the Evo Challenge and Production Cup: "We're simply over the moon." Calm down Dan, no need for all the euphoria...

"We're now going to have a think about where to go for the rest of the year." Alan Cookson's latest retirement doesn't sound good...

"We really pushed in the last four stages, it was the drive of my life, we went hard and fast." And Steve Perez has had some life and done some driving...

"We have won three events this year and finished second in two, it's nearly been perfect." No one would disagree with Marcus Dodd's summary of his season so far...

MITSUBISHI RALLIART EVOLUTION CHALLENGE
Daniel Barry takes 2009 Mitsubishi Evo Challenge Crown
Irish Crew Daniel Barry and Martin Brady have been confirmed the 2009 Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge Champions after their emphatic victory on round six, the Pro-Art Swansea Bay Rally in Wales.

This gives Daniel his fifth victory out of six rounds and means he has an insurmountable lead in the series even with two rounds left to play for. Daniel and Martin have been victors right from the initial round of the series in Bournemouth and continued the campaign with victories in the Scottish Borders, the Isle of Man, the Welsh Severn Valley and now the latest success in Swansea.

The victory in Swansea was hard fought after a day long tussle with Icelandic driver Daniel Sigurdarson and at the finish of the final stage Daniel Barry had just barely moved into a scant 1.3 second lead which sealed the victory and the championship.

At the finish ramp an ecstatic Daniel received his well deserved champagne reception and commented: "I'm so happy to finally make it here, it has been a great year with big battles on every round but thankfully Martin and I have managed to come out the winners and take the victories each time we needed to, and thanks to this and our family-run team Barry Motorsport we are here now celebrating the spoils of our hard work and effort.

"Our car, the Mitsubishi Lancer never missed a beat all season and gave us sterling performance and reliability every time we needed it. That's a credit to our team and how hard they worked to have every nut and bolt perfect on the car. I'm just so relieved as well as happy to have confirmed the championship with time to spare as it means we can concentrate on the rest of the season without the pressures of championship responsibilities and we look forward to the remaining rounds of the series."

Martin, from Navan, has been co-driver to Daniel for almost a year now and is the reigning champion in the series by virtue of the results he scored with Daniel in the latter half of the 2008 season, at the Swansea Bay finish he recounted a day of nerves as all that was required was a finish to secure the 2009 series, "We had a unusually nervous start to the rally as we for the first time were driving knowing we had to be cautious and just simply finish to win and that's perhaps more difficult to do than driving to the maximum concentration and pace, but as the day progressed we got more settled and built more speed and after a great day long battle with Daniel Sigurdarson we got the win on the rally as well as the championship which is the ultimate happy ending to our Evo Challenge season, of course we will continue with the rest of the rounds because it is such a great championship and the friendship and camaraderie with our rivals is as much a part of it as the competition itself."

The prize for the 2009 Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge is a 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 10 Road Car or prize bursary to the same value to allow the winner to compete in the 2010 official Mitsubishi Team UK in the British Rally Championship.
For results and championship positions, please visit www.evo-challenge.co.uk

ENDS