However, Elsmore's lead was short-lived. He was first slowed on the second stage when he caught the car ahead of him and then was waved down by competitors at the scene of an accident, only to find the road was clear when he got there! The subsequent loss of time meant that, at the first service halt of the day in Dolgellau, Barry had passed Elsmore and was now leading by 23 seconds.
In third place and thoroughly enjoying himself on the smooth but deceptively slippery stages, was the current Icelandic Rally champion Daniel Sigurdarson, who had made another trip to the UK to compete in what has become his favourite championship.
Another driver looking to post a strong result in his last event of the season was Tom Naughton. Holding fourth place, all was going well until a short distance into the second stage, when the car slid wide, plunged off the road and rolled some 60-feet down a slope. Thankfully both he and co-driver Terry Wilson were unhurt and Naughton pledged he will return with a re-shelled car in 2008.
Although not as severe, Petch was also having problems. A suspected ECU fault meant his car developed a miss-fire on SS1, followed by a sticking throttle on SS3, which led to hurried gear changes and a shattered fourth gear on SS4. His subsequent retirement meant that hopes of securing third place in the Evo Challenge were over, but he ended the season as PIAA Junior Champion, the award for the top under 25-year old driver.
Stage four also heralded the retirement of Sigurdarson, who went just a few feet too wide at a hairpin and managed to beach his car on a small bank. With no spectators around he could not extricate his stricken Lancer from its predicament and disappointingly lost the opportunity of claiming his first Evo Challenge podium finish of the year.
Back to contest the final round of the season was Mark I'Anson and, with victory in the Evolution Cup (the series for closer to standard Mitsubishis) almost assured, suspension damage on the fourth stage was to put him out of the event.
