Over the past few weeks Enniskerry rally driver Daniel Barry and his Barry Motorsport team have rebuilt their Mitsubishi Evolution VIII into the very latest Group N specification Evolution IX - and this weekend's Philip White Tyres Ulster Rally saw its first competitive outing.

Held on closed public roads around the rally's host town of Armagh, the event hosted the sixth round of the highly competitive Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge, the one-make series for production specification Mitsubishi Lancers. The event was also a round of both the British and Irish Rally Championships, which brought together many of the best drivers from the UK and Ireland to provide an overall field of 86 cars. Testing during the week leading up to the weekend, with former Mitsubishi works driver Rory Galligan from Oldcastle on hand to set up the car and offer the advice of his experience, meant that Daniel was as prepared as he could be for this notoriously difficult asphalt rally ? especially as his preferred surface is gravel!

Partnered by his regular co-driver, Mark Bowens from Castlemartr, Daniel set off for the first of Friday's six special stages eager to see what his new car would do and straight away he found a significant advantage in its performance. However, like all drivers he was a little cautious from the start, as the event's notorious unpredictable weather meant that tyre choice was a lottery with the stages becoming more and more slippery in the falling rain.

As Daniel returned to Armagh for the overnight halt the team were delighted to report that although further work was needed to perfect the tarmac set-up, the car was running faultlessly and Daniel found himself a respectable fifth in the Evolution Challenge and 23rd overall.

With a further 10 stages on Saturday, the 22-year old Irishman felt confident enough to increase his pace, but the conditions were still not ideal and on the first stage of the morning the car under-steered into a post. Although hardly damaged, an intercooler pipe was crushed, resulting in almost no boost from the turbocharger. Having to nurse the car through the rest of the stage and the one following, Daniel returned to the service area where the necessary parts were replaced.

With the car restored to 100% he set off to make up for lost time, only for the same thing to happen on SS10 ? this time the car coming into contact with a tree and damaging the intercooler itself. Again, the team did the business at the next service halt, but for some reason full power could not be resumed, which meant a frustrating final few stages.

Determined to get to the finish Daniel pressed on and was pleased to cross the line back in Armagh 7th in the Evolution Challenge and 30th overall ? a worthy result considering the time lost during the day and the quality of the competitors around him. He also picked-up third place in the PIAA Junior category for under 25-year old drivers.

?Although it was a difficult rally I was really pleased with the way the car performed. I must also thank my team for keeping me going and fixing the car within the service time allowed?, said Daniel at the finish. ?The Evo IX has significantly more power than the Evo VIII and it really accelerates out of corners, which took me some time to get used to on tarmac. I?m therefore looking forward to my next event which is back in the forests on gravel roads.?

The next event for Daniel and his team is also the next round of the Evolution Challenge and the British Rally Championship ? the International Rally Yorkshire on 6th October. Based in Pickering, the event features 90 competitive miles in forests over the picturesque North Yorkshire Moors. Daniel?s 2007 campaign is supported by: Peggy Murphy?s of Enniskerry, BPI Telecom, Henco under-floor heating and SC Signs.