Having already secured the title for this year’s Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge, Eniskerry rally driver Daniel Barry and his co-driver Martin Brady from Navan, went to the seventh round of the series, the Todds Leap Ulster International Rally, hoping to record his sixth win of the season.

However, contact with a bank on the fourth of the event’s demanding tarmac stages meant that he and Martin had to retire whilst leading the highly competitive rally championship for Production Class Mitsubishis.

Intending to contest all eight rounds of the UK-based one-make series, Daniel had no hesitation in entering this weekend’s event, which also featured a round of the MSA British Rally Championship and the Irish Evolution Challenge, for which Daniel was also registered.

Starting from Antrim on Friday afternoon, the rally featured three stages ran twice on Friday and another four ran twice on Saturday, the 14 stages providing a total competitive distance of 127 miles.

Uncharacteristically, Daniel was not the fastest of the Mitsubishi’s on the first stage and admitted that perhaps he was a bit too relaxed having wrapped up this year’s Mitsubishi championship on the previous round. However, he upped his pace on stages one and two and, at the first service halt of the day, the time sheets revealed that he was now leading the UK Mitsubishi Championship and lying second in the Irish series.

However, Daniel was not satisfied with the situation, as he was uncomfortable with his pace-notes and the lines he was taking. He therefore went into stage four looking to improve things, but a series of bumps on a fast, narrow section, unsettled his car, the back stepped out, clipped a bank and the impact spun the Mitsubishi around in the road. After coming to an abrupt halt, inspection showed that the car’s rear suspension was too badly damaged to continue and disappointingly, Daniel had no choice but to retire.

“Although this is not the way to end a rally, this is the first accident we’ve had in all of this year’s eight event’s, which can’t be bad considering the results we’ve had”, said Daniel. “By securing the UK Evo Challnge title on the previous rally, we’ve done what we’ve set out to do this season so, if we were going to have a DNF, if is better that it was on this event. However, I’m now determined to get a good result on our final rally of the year in the Yorkshire Forests next month.”

The Barry Motorsport team will now repair the car in time for the International Rally of Yorkshire, which takes place on 26th September and hosts the final round of the UK Evolution Challenge and the British Rally Championship.

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