by Geoff Mayes
Weston Super Mare based rally driver Simon Harraway was more than happy with his pace on the Rallye Sunseeker last weekend when the relative newcomer traded times with the more established contestants in the highly competitive UK Mitsubishi Evo Challenge.
Harraway, who has only been rallying for a year, was contesting his second ever gravel rally in the Regency Group-backed Mitsubishi Evo 9 and yet ran consistently inside the top 10 throughout the event, including going third fastest on the first run through Somerley Park. Considering that some of the best rising stars from Iceland, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales were all competing in identical cars this was no small feat.
The pair wowed the crowds on Friday night with two runs through the Winter Gardens spectator stage, taking a pair of top ten times along the way.
Saturday morning saw the crews head out into the forests and, co-driven by Craig Drew, Harraway opened his account with a time a mere 4 seconds off the fastest car in the production class.
They improved their position throughout the morning and after seven stages he was tied on stage times with 2007 runner up Sebastian Ling. However when he ran wide on a hairpin late in the day and slid off it marked the end of the rally for the rapid newcomer.
Although there was no damage to the Mitsubishi the car was stranded and the rally was over.
“Of course I'm disappointed that we slid off, but I can not help but be happy with our pace,” he reflected. “We were anticipating being over a second a mile off the top boys, so to swap times with them this early in the season is a big confidence boost!
“I will be doing some driver training with both David Higgins and Stuart Jones, who will also be assisting me with setting up the car. I know where I need to improve but I just need more seat time and experience.
