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| Mitsubishi shines before the rain |
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PRESS
INFORMATION
This weekend’s Jim Clark Rally, which hosted round two of the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship, saw the Mitsubishi Motors UK Rally Team back to it’s front-running form, with round-one winner Guy Wilks and his co-driver Phil Pugh leading from the start - right up until six stages from the end, when his car slid off the road in wet and slippery conditions. Although unable to continue at that point, he was forced to complete Sunday’s stages under Super-Rally regulations. Following Wilks’ problems, team mate Gwyndaf Evans, co-driven by Huw Lewis, was all set to battle for the lead until the first of Sunday’s stages when his car’s transmission seized and the former British Champion had little choice but to stop and again invoke Super-Rally tactics. Following an excellent series of runs through the shakedown stage on Thursday evening, the team were pleased to establish a good set up for its two works Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IXs. The rally, which was also a round of the Global Group Irish Tarmac Championship, started in Kelso at 7.00pm on Friday, the competitive action getting underway with two high-profile spectator stages at Langton that evening. Straight away the Mitsubishi pair were on the pace, setting equal-fastest BRC times on the opening stage and, following the second, held first and second places before the overnight halt. At this point Mark Higgins driving a Subaru was in third, the battle between him and the two Mitsubishi’s resuming from round one. Higgins fought back by setting the fastest time on the first of Saturday’s 10 stages and went into the lead. However, Wilks had other ideas and snatched it back on the next stage, albeit clouting a fence with the rear of his car when gravel forced him wide on a left-hander half way through SS4. Evans was also getting quicker and following a fastest time on SS6, he too pushed his way past Higgins, whilst Wilks extended his advantage, even after stalling and spinning at a hairpin on the same stage - losing about eight seconds in the process. At Saturday’s halfway point, Wilks had pulled out a margin of 10 seconds over Evans, who was in-turn now four seconds ahead of Higgins. But with rain clouds gathering the talk in the service area was all about tyres. Whilst Wilks and Higgins opted for slicks, Evans went for a combination of intermediates on the back and slicks on the front. This mixture appeared not to be ideal for the conditions, as the roads remained dry for the following two stages - and he subsequently dropped back to third. With the weather looking as though it might hold and slicks being the order of the day so far, both Wilks and Evans went out for Saturday’s final loop of three stages with dry tyres fitted, whilst Higgins chose intermediates. The first of the three stages was dry and the two Mitsubishis made the most of it, both taking over 10 seconds off Higgins. Evans and Wilks were still quicker on the damper SS11, which meant that Wilks was now leading by 21 seconds from Evans, who was in -turn a further eight seconds up on Higgins. And then it rained, which meant that the final stage of the day became so treacherous that every competitor had a heart-stopping moment on the slippery road surface - but no-one more-so than Wilks, who was caught out on a fast left-right combination. Realising there was almost no grip at all when the car went sideways, Wilks corrected the slide, onto to find some traction which launched his Evo through a hedge and into a fence. Although most of the damage was cosmetic, the car’s radiator was split and he could go no further - but it could have been worse, as he managed to miss a number of sturdy fence posts and telegraph poles as his Evo left the road. Seeing his team mate stranded, Evans backed-off to make sure he got his Lancer to the overnight halt unscathed, but in the process handed the lead back to Higgins, albeit by just 1.2 seconds. Wilks’ car was brought back to the service area where the Mitsubishi team repaired his car for the following day. Evans had noticed a slight restriction when selecting second gear, which prompted the team to change his car’s gearbox at Sunday morning’s 45 minute service halt as a precautionary measure. But luck was certainly not running with the team for this event and on the first of Sunday’s six stages Evan’s gearbox seized, bringing his rally to an abrupt end. Besides a loose turbo pipe on the opening stage, which slowed his progress, Wilks’ car was running well and he carried on from where he left off the previous day with a string of fastest stage times. But with both cars now running under Super-Rally regulations, any chance of a top British Rally Championship result was over, as a 10 minute penalty was applied to the fastest stage time for every stage they failed to complete. Although this wasn’t the result the team were after, they came away delighted that their two cars were clearly the fastest of the British Championship feild and now look towards round three, the Rally Isle of Man on July 19th - 21st. The Cirencester-based Mitsubishi Motors UK rally team is supported by HKS, Pirelli, Sparco, Speedline Corse, PIAA, Ricardo and Performance Friction Brakes. The team’s two Lancer Evolution IXs are built and run on events by ADR Motorsport of Chesterfield. Guy Wilks is supported by Mobil 1. Team Quotes Gwyndaf Evans Guy Wilks Paul Brigden - General Manager, Ralliart ENDS Notes for Editors |
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For further information please contact:
Paul
Brigden, General Manager - Ralliart Mitsubishi
Motors UK Motorsport Press Officer
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Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship Round Two
