Daniel Barry recorded his first ever Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge victory this weekend, when he and co-driver Mark Bowens won the eighth and final round of the one-make series for Group N Lancer Evolutions on Saturday's Bulldog Rally.
With the fiercely contested Mitsubishi Championship already wrapped-up by winner of six rounds Phillip Morrow and the only other winner this year Neil McCance still rebuilding his car following an accident on round six, the 2007 series was destined to see a new name on top this weekend.
The event itself started and finished in Oswestry, with its 70 competitive miles split between six timed special stages in north-Wales forests, the names of which conjure-up memories of classic RAC Rallies: Dyfnant, Dyfi, Pantperthog and Gartheiniog.
Although having already secured the runner-up spot, Sebastian Ling stood by his commitment to the series and, without the pressure of the title chase on his shoulders, entered the season's finale with the intention of notching up at least one victory this year.
However, his recent run of bad luck continued when his car's turbo actuator failed halfway through the first stage. Although limping out of the forest and getting his car back the service area, the unfortunate Welshman was out of contention, but opted to carry on to make the most of the excellent forestry roads that were a feature of this rally - and proceeded to set the fastest Mitsubishi times on all four remaining stages.
Fastest Evo Challenger through the first stage was Nik Elsmore, who had two targets in this weekend: To ensure that Stephen Petch was not going to snatch third place in the series standings and, to get his co-driver Patrick Walsh back to the finish to claim the co-driver's championship.
