A delighted Daniel Barry from Eniskerry, together with co-driver Martin Brady from Navan, crossed the line at this weekend's Manx Telecom Rally to record their third victory in this year's Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge and, in doing so increase their lead in the highly competitive series for Group N (Production Class) Mitsubishis. The result also sees them continue to top the tables in the MSA National Gravel Championship - although the Isle of Man based event is held entirely on asphalt!

Putting aside the dramas of his visit to this event last year, when - although he finished in a hard-earned third place - his previous Evo IX ended up looking decidedly second-hand, Daniel was determined to continue his current form on the first tarmac event of the season. Following the first of the event's 16 stages on Friday evening, a run through the south-coast town of Port Erin, he emerged in the lead by two seconds from rivals Simon Hughes/Craig Parry and Nik Elsmore/Craig Drew.

With intermittent rain making grip levels unpredictable, Hughes spun on stage two. Then, following a further five stages through the Manx lanes, cars returned to the Douglas TT Grandstand for the overnight halt, where the time sheets showed Daniel leading the Evolution Challenge field by 17 seconds.

Saturday featured a further ten stages and, with the rain disappearing overnight, the first four were all run in the dry. With Hughes suffering a broken driveshaft on SS8 and then a high-speed spin on SS9, Daniel's lead was looking even better.

However, stage nine also caught-out the 24-year old Irishman, when just 100 meters from the finish a deceptive jump caused the car to bounce into a ditch. Daniel admitted that luck was on his side, as he got away with just a puncture, the removal of the rear bumper and, most importantly, without losing any time.

As cars left the first service halt of the day for the next leg of three stages, the heavens opened and Daniel was pleased he had opted for wet-weather tyres. Now a minute ahead of the other Mitsubishis, he knew that this was no time for heroics and concentrated on maintaining his advantage.

Hughes was now back to full speed, but had lost too much time to make an impression. Therefore, Elsmore was now the only threat, but a faulty throttle sensor did little to help his cause.

But in rallying, it's never over until it's over and, just before the end of the stage before the second service halt, Daniel noticed a vibration coming from beneath his car. Once back to Douglas his team traced the fault to a broken prop-shaft joint and were able to make the necessary repairs before the final loop of three stages.

Still ahead by a minute, a steady run through the final leg was to be the best course of action. Daniel executed his strategy perfectly and returned to Douglas later that afternoon to record his third Evo Challenge victory of the season and first ever Mitsubishi championship win on tarmac.

"It's great to take my third win of the year - especially as it's my first on tarmac", said Daniel. "We had a really good run all weekend and I have to thank the team as the car was excellent. We were a bit lucky this morning to get away with our brief visit to a ditch, but this result really sets us up well for the second half of the season."

Daniel's result also netted him first place in Group N overall and sees him extend his lead in the Evolution Challenge to six points. He also continues to lead the MSA Gravel Rally Championship.

Over the next three weeks Daniel and his team will return their Evo IX to gravel specification for round five of the Mitsubishi series, the Severn Valley National Rally, which takes place in mid-Wales on 30th May.

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