After having to rebuild his car following a high-impact crash at the end of July in the Swansea Bay Rally, Daniel Barry and his team were delighted to finish the recent Ulster Rally with a podium place in the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge - the highly competitive one-make championship which Daniel was leading earlier this year.

Since the accident on the Welsh event, the team had worked flat out to get the car ready for the Ulster Rally. Based in Armagh, the route featured six stages on Friday evening and a further 10 on Saturday, the total of which provided 134 miles of competition on closed public roads near the host town.

Also a round of the British Rally Championship, Daniel had chosen to register for the series in the hope he may be selected for the BRC Star Driver prize, the winner of which goes through to an end of season shoot-out for a chance to win a season in a Pirelli supported car. However, this meant swapping to the BRC controlled fuel, which consequently reduced the power output of his Mitsubishi.
Daniel, from Enniskerry, was joined for this event by experienced co-driver Martin Brady from Navan, his usual accomplice Mark Bowens unable to partner Daniel on this occasion because of other commitments.

The event has a reputation of providing its competitors with one of the toughest tests of the year, the undulating roads renowned for catching out the unwary. With this in mind Daniel opted for a cautions start – and just as well – as he found his car handling a little strangely, a suspected problem with the transmission causing it to understeer through the corners. Even so, at the first service halt after three stages he was up to third in the Evolution Challenge rankings and climbed to second after six stages before the overnight halt.

Although the team did what they could to get the car to turn-in better, there was not enough service time to change the transmission. Daniel battled through the first of the Saturday morning stages, but found himself being reeled-in by the chasing pack, so much so that on SS12 he was back down to fourth of the Mitsubishis and feeling a little despondent.

Never to be out-done, at the final service halt and with three stages to go, he collected his thoughts and, with a determined effort, fought back to score his fourth Evolution Challenge podium of the season.

“Considering the demanding nature of the event and the problems we had with the car’s handling, I’m pleased to have finished in the top three of the Evolution Challenge”, said Daniel at the finish. “It would have been good to be battling for the lead and to have finished higher up in the British Championship standings, but after the team did such a fantastic job following the accident in Swansea, it’s great to make it home with out a scratch on the car.”

Daniel’s result means that, with one round still to go, he is still in with a mathematical chance of securing the coveted Evolution Challenge title, which brings with it the chance of a Mitsubishi works drive in the Wales Rally GB – Britain’s round of the World Rally Championship.

The team now prepares for the season’s grand finale, the north-Wales based Bulldog Rally, which takes place on 18th October and where last year Daniel recorded his first Evolution Challenge victory.
Daniel’s 2007 campaign is supported by: Tech-Plus, Irish Shipping and Transport, BPI Telecom, Henco under-floor heating and SC Signs.