Mitsubishi's female rally ace heads for Austria.

Natalie Barratt, the world's top female rally driver, will contest two of Austria's biggest motorsport events in three weeks, thanks to her new deal with Vienna-based Stohl rally team.

The Mitsubishi UK-supported rally driver will contest the 17th International Rallye-Sprint near Bruck an der Leitha on August 11/12 and the OMV Rally on September 5/9. Both events have been added to her calendar as Natalie Barratt's two signature yellow and black Gp N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI rally cars are going to be prepared and run by top Austrian team, Stohl Rallye Team - headed by the current Gp N World Champion, Manfred Stohl.

Barratt's priority remains the FIA Teams' Cup, in which she recently became the first female driver to score points on two consecutive rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship for five years. The 26-year old driver from Wilmslow in Cheshire has finished all but one round of the FIA Teams' Cup so far this year, scoring points in both Cyprus and Greece.

Natalie Barratt will contest the Rallye-Sprint and OMV Rally in a brand new Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI, which has was built by the RED team. She successfully tested the car in North Wales recently, before transporting it, and all her rally equipment, to its new home in Austria.

The OMV Rally will be Natalie Barratt's second asphalt rally of the season and will be good preparation for the Sanremo Rally, the penultimate round of the FIA Teams' Cup, in October.

Barratt said: "I've enjoyed a successful and very busy first half of the season and it looks like the second half of the year will be even more hectic. There have been many aspects of the team that have changed in the last six months. We completed our initial two event programme with RED who built my new car, which I tested in Wales. We'd always planned to reassess the situation after the rallies in Cyprus and Greece, and following those events we have decided not to continue our relationship with RED, working instead with the Stohl Rallye Team."
"It doesn't mean to say we may not work together again in the future, but I believe the right thing for me right now is for Stohl Rallye Team to prepare and run my cars," added Natalie. "I'm confident Stohl Rallye Team will provide me with everything I need to be able to drive with confidence, as they have proven to be extremely reliable and professional."