It was not the end of the season that Eniskerry rally driver Daniel Barry and his co-driver Martin Brady from Navan were looking for, when a suspension problem on the second stage of this weekend’s Trackrod International Rally Yorkshire denied them of what promised to be an excellent result.

After securing the title for this year’s UK Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge back in July, Daniel intended to contest the final two rounds of the season - both of them also rounds of the MSA British Rally Championship - as would be able to compare his pace against that of the BRC contenders, with thoughts of joining the series in 2010.

Having retired from the previous round in Ulster in August after clipping a bank and damaging his Mitsubishi too badly to continue, the Barry Motorsport team did an excellent job in repairing the car and, now back to a gravel surface, Daniel was raring to go. The event comprised a loop of four stages on the North Yorkshire Moors during the morning which were repeated in the afternoon, the day punctuated by a lunch time service halt and a short spectator stage around Pickering Showground.

Daniel and Martin got off to a fantastic start. Not only were they the quickest of the Evolution Challenge competitors on the opening stage, a 14-mile run through Langdale Forest, but they set a time of third fastest overall – right up there with the leading British Championship competitors.

However, as soon as they left the start line of SS2 Daniel realised something was wrong, his car beginning to handle very strangely. After managing to nurse his Evo through the 16.6 miles of Dalby Forest, inspection showed that the left-hand-side rear suspension mounting bolts had pulled out of the bodywork.

Daniel quickly realised that there was little he could do to fix the problem, as it became apparent that the suspension mountings had been weakened due to the impact of the Ulster incident. Reluctantly, he and Martin had no other choice but to retire from the event, a disappointing end to what has been a fantastic and highly successful season.

“It’s just one of those things. We changed everything we thought we needed to, following the accident in Ulster and there looked to be nothing wrong with the suspension mountings”, said Daniel. “However, at least the one stage we did get through this weekend showed that we do have the pace to mix it with the BRC front-runners, so I come away from this rally very pleased with that.”

Daniel continued: “All in all it’s been a fantastic year and we have achieved what we set out to achieve by winning the Evolution Challenge. I must therefore take this opportunity to thank Martin, our sponsors and the whole team around me who have made this successful season possible.”

Daniel and the Barry Motorsport team will now assess their options for 2010, details of which will be announced soon.

Daniel’s 2009 campaign was supported by: Tech-Plus, Irish Shipping and Transport, BPI Telecom and SC Signs.