Disappointment for Wright on Dukeries Rally

David Wright pushing hard on the Dukeries Rally. Photo courtesy of Songasport

Bentham’s David Wright was robbed of the chance to push for a victory on last weekend’s Dukeries rally when a driveshaft snapped dropping him down the leaderboard.

Wright got off to a great start in his Kumho Tyres, Proflex, Drenth, York Brewery, Millers Oils, Owen Developments and Grove Hill Garage-supported Mitsubishi Evo 9 and, after setting the fastest time in stage 5 he was up to second overall, just 11 seconds off the leader. With another five stages still to go Wright was confident of making up the time to take the win but disaster struck on the start line of stage 8 when the driveshaft broke.

With no service halt after stage 8 Wright was forced to do two stages with the damaged shaft which dropped him to 13^th on the leaderboard. The problem was fixed for the last stage and Wright made it to 12^th place and 4^th in class.

“The first few stages went really well,” said Wright. “I was very happy to be beating all but one of the World Rally class cars, the Dukeries stages have a lot of long straights which are a major disadvantage for our car.”

“I think we had a great chance of winning the event but the snapped shaft put paid to that. It was a very disappointing way to end what could’ve been a fantastic rally for us.”

Wright’s next event will be the Nicky Grist Stages in July although he will also be appearing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed as part of the International Rally Drivers Club display.

David Wright takes on the Wyedean Rally

David Wright aims to get his 2013 season off to a flying start on the slippery Wyedean rally

Bentham's David Wright will start his 2013 rally season next weekend when he contests the Wyedean Forest rally in his Kumho Tyres, Proflex, Drenth, York Brewery, Millers Oils, Owen Developments and Grove Hill Garage-backed GPM Mitsubishi Evo 9.

The Chepstow-based event is the opening round of the BTRDA rally championship which Wright is intending to contest this season.

"I can't wait for the season to commence," said Wright. "I'm keen to get the year off to a good start after our disappointing retirement from the Grizedale Stages at the end of last year."

"I enjoy the Forest of Dean stages that the Wyedean uses although I am hoping that conditions will be better than last year when the stages were covered in sheet ice - it becomes a bit of a lottery when we have zero grip."

"Thanks to the support from my sponsors we are starting the year with the aim of contesting the full BTRDA championship. I will be trying to repeat the title win I achieved in 2009."

The rally starts from Chepstow racecourse on Saturday morning with the crews facing tough stages such as Speech House and Serridge.

MML Sports powers Gustavo Saba to second FIA CODASUR South American Rally Championship title

MML Sports powers Gustavo Saba to second FIA CODASUR South American Rally Championship title

MML Sports, the company created from the former works Mitsubishi World Rally Team, has proved invaluable in securing a second FIA CODASUR South American Rally Championship title for Gustavo Saba from Paraguay. Driving a Mitsubishi Lancer EvolutionX using the official Mitsubishi R4 conversion, developed jointly by MML Sports, Saba dominated the five-round series to claim his second title in two years.

The South American Rally Championship comprised five rounds in 2012, in Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina and Uruguay. Saba's season began auspiciously, when he retired from the first round, his home event the Rally Trans Itapua, with a rare mechanical component failure.

However, he soon put the record straight, with a convincing win on the Rally Erechim in Brazil in May and followed that up with another win in July, on the Rally Santa Cruz in Bolivia. He took second on the penultimate round, the Rally de Apostoles in Argentina before rounding off the season with another win on the final round, Rally del Atlantico in November.

He and co-driver Victor Aguilera, who won the co-driver category, notched up 166.5 points over the course of the season, compared to their closest rival, Sebastien Abramian who claimed 108.

What makes the win even more impressive is that during the season, Saba and Aguilera faced a brace of lighter Super2000 rally cars, including the Toyota S2000 and the Ford Fiesta S2000, triumphing in their clearly more competitive Mitsubishi.

Commenting, MML Sports Managing Director John Easton said; "I am delighted to offer our congratulations to Gustavo and Victor on their second consecutive win in the highly-competitive FIA CODASUR South American Rally Championship.

"Other than the first event, where they retired with a rare clutch failure, they were completely dominant in the series. The combination of their outright speed and the strength and reliability of the MML Sports R4-specification Lancer EvolutionX proved the class of the field, with a winning points margin of more than 50% over their nearest rival.

"I am also very pleased that they were able to demonstrate that the Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX, using the MML Sports R4 conversion kit, is definitely competitive against the lighter Super 2000 cars.

"Not only did we supply Gustavo with the R4 kit for his car but also, were able to help him with set-up advice. Initially, he was a little sceptical, as the settings we suggested, developed by Jari Ketomma on our own R4 car, were very different to what he had been using. However, he tried these settings and was immediately impressed by the car's improved stability, particularly in high-speed sections that form many of the series' stages.

"We look forward to supporting Gustavo next year, when he looks for his third CODASUR title."

Top drivers aim to beat Bogie on Granite Rally

Kevin Rae and David Bogie in action on the Scottish Rally Championship

The biggest motorsport event in the North-east of Scotland, the Coltel Granite City Rally, roars into action this Saturday (April 14) with more than 100 crews starting from rally HQ, the Thainstone Agricultural Centre near Inverurie.

And as they head off into the five stunning and demanding Kincardineshire stages, which form the 44 miles of the rally, a host of local drivers will be determined to deny triple Scottish champion, and current British champ, David Bogie, victory.

The 24-year-old from Dumfries heads into Coltel Granite City Rally eyeing his third win in the opening three rounds of the Scottish Rally Championship.

"It's going to be a tough weekend," Bogie, who was denied victory in the Coltel Granite City Rally by just one second last year when Aberdeen's Dave Weston won, admitted.

"Although I was disappointed to come second, it was still one hell of a battle with Dave, and one of the highlights of our year.

"We've had a dream start to this season, with two wins out of two, and we'll certainly be pushing for victory on Saturday.

"The stages on the Granite are first class, with flowing corners and plenty of high speed action. We're really looking forward to it."

Bogie, partnered by Hawick co-driver Kevin Rae in his Mitsubishi Evo IX, faces stiff competition from a number of North-east drivers looking to win on home soil.

Stonehaven's Barry Groundwater, driving another Evo IX, starts the Coltel Granite City Rally on the back of two solid performances.

"We finished sixth in the Snowman Rally in Inverness, then took third in the championship in the last round in Jedburgh, the Border Counties," Groundwater explained.

"Now we have to carry that form into the Granite. My best result in my home rally was second, way back in 1996, but hopefully we can go one better than that this weekend.

"Everyone says you do well on your home rally with local knowledge etc. But that's just not true: one year I crashed on the stage where I walk my dogs! 

"The Granite is a popular rally with competitors and spectators alike. Good or bad result, it’s always one of my favourite events to compete in."

A good performance this weekend will see Groundwater move into third place in the Scottish Rally Championship ahead of Rory Young. The Dumfries driver isn't competing in the Granite.

And while Inverness duo Donnie Macdonald and co-driver Keir Beaton will be gunning for a podium in their Mitsubishi Evo IX, Banchory's Quintin* Milne is also eyeing home success in yet another Evo IX.

"We're still learning lots about the car," Milne, partnered by Aberdeen navigator Martin Forrest and who has stepped up to the 4WD Mitsubishi this year from his 2WD Ford Escort MkII, admitted.

"But we're learning fast. We've scored two top 10 finishes in the opening two rounds, and at times we've been very quick. We've had a few technical niggles, but we're ready for this weekend."

And 2009 Coltel Granite City Rally winners, Mike Faulkner and Peter Foy, are hoping to repeat their success and close the gap on Bogie in the title race.

"Two events down and two seconds is a great start for us," Faulkner, who will again pilot his Mitsubishi Evo VI, said.

"David has been immense on both events, but we haven’t given up and will focus on trying to beat him on the Granite before he runs away with the series. 

"Being able to go head to head with a British and three times Scottish champion is fantastic for the championship and is what keeps us motivated. We'll be giving it 100%."

Sixth in the Granite last year, Duns-based Euan Thorburn, co-driven by Paul Beaton from Inverness, are also likely to push for a podium finish in their Ford Focus WRC '01.

Running ahead of the main field, the two-wheel-drive championship promises to deliver a real North-east battle in matching Ford Escort MkII cars.

Alford's Keith Robathan, with David O'Brien on the notes, faces a stiff challenge from his old rival Calum Mackenzie. The Inverurie driver is returning to his Escort after recent outings in an Evo VIII. 

And Alford's David Wilson, who finished third in last year's Coltel Granite in a 4WD Evo IX, is also expected to push for a 2WD podium in his Escort MkII. Wilson is co-driven by Aberdeen's Dave Robson.

The first car will leave the ceremonial start at the Thainstone Agricultural Centre near Inverurie at 9.01am on Saturday (April 14) morning, and should be back at Thainstone by 3pm.

Coltel Granite City Rally, Scottish Rally Championship (Rnd 3 of 8). Top 10 seeded entries:

1. David Bogie (Dumfries)/Kevin Rae (Hawick) Mitsubishi Evo IX;

2. Mike Faulkner (KIrtlebridge)/Peter Foy (Bingley) Mitsubushi Evo VI;

3. Euan Thorburn (Duns)/Paul Beaton (Inverness) Ford Focus WRC;

4. Barry Groundwater (Stonehaven)/Neil Shanks (Elgin) Mitsubishi Evo IX;

5. Donnie Macdonald (Inverness)/Andrew Falconer (Inverness) Mitsubishi Evo IX;

6. John McClory (Strathblane)/David Hood (Elderslie) Subaru Imprezza N15;

7. Quintin Milne (Banchory)/Martin Forrest (Aberdeen Mitsubishi Evo IX;

8. Chris Collie (Portlethen)/Lisa Watson (Alford) Mitsubishi Evo VI;

9. Stephen Lockhart (Oban)/Kevin Lockhart (Oban) Mitsubushi Evo VII

10. Bruce Mccombie (Banchory)/Michael Coutts (Torphins) Subaru Impreza.

MML Sports enjoying a business Boom

Bob de Jong's Lancer WRC

The 2012 season kicked off with a bang for MML Sports, the co-developer of the official Mitsubishi R4 kit for the Lancer EvolutionX rally car. Not only is the company running numerous rally programs around the world, it is also building rally cars to supply to individual drivers and teams globally.

The latest addition to its portfolio is a Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX R4 for the Jordan market. One car has already been built, shipped and demonstrated its prowess on the fist round of the Jordanian National Rally series, the 1st Jordanian Local Rally.

Local driver Alaa Kalifa set the early pace and following the retirement of Lebanese driver Roger Feghali, seemed to have the event win in the bag. However, a mistake on the final stage led to him going off the road and into retirement while holding a healthy lead.

The speed and reliability of the MML Sports Lancer R4 prompted the local agent to immediately contact MML Sports to discuss ordering another car, which is ready to be built for the second round of the series.

At least one car will also make three appearances on the FIA Middle East Rally Championship during the course of the year and hopes are high for success, thanks to the MMLS R4's clear pace on the desert stages.

While the first R4 for Jordan was being built, long-time MML Sports customer Bert de Jong from the Netherlands placed an order for a second Mitsubishi Lancer WRC for his son, Bob, to drive on the national series and around Europe.

Bert was the first and only customer to run a Lancer WRC in anything other than the now-familiar bright red livery, specifying his car to be finished in black.

In contrast, the car for Bob was specified in base white, making Bert him the owner of the only two Lancer WRCs not finished in the world-famous Mitsubishi red.

Commenting, MML Sports Managing Director John Easton said; "I'm delighted that Alaa was putting in such a good performance in the first round of the Jordanian series, particularly considering the level of competition there. I had a call from him at the event's first service saying he was leading the event overall and he was delighted. It's a real shame that he wasn't able to claim the result that seemed to be his for the taking.

"However, our car obviously impressed, as I had another call almost immediately after the event finished, to discuss ordering another Lancer EvoX R4, for the national series and also, to partner in the MERC. I am very excited by the prospect of seeing two of our cars on one of the biggest FIA regional rally championships in the world.

"It's also very gratifying to know that existing customers like Bert come back to us when they need another car. When he specified his in black, I wasn't sure how it would work but it is certainly very striking on the stages. And similarly, when he asked for the new car in white, I was very unsure but seeing the car in the flesh, it looks really good.

"It still feels a little strange for us to be preparing a Mitsubishi Lancer WRC in anything other than the red that made Mitsubishi famous. But I guess that's progress for you!" 

Wright denied win on Malcolm Wilson Rally

Wright's Evo 9 on the pace during the Malcolm Wilson Rally. Photo : Songasport

Bentham’s David Wright was denied the chance of winning the Malcolm Wilson rally last weekend when a broken gear linkage forced him out of the event in Grizedale forest.

The rally kicked off with the Comb stage in Whinlatter forest and Wright was immediately on the pace, setting second fastest time just four seconds behind the Ford Focus WRC of Hugh Hunter.

The Hobcarton stage was next up and Wright continued to push hard in his Kumho Tyres, Drenth, York Brewery, Proflex and Grove Hill Garage-supported Mitsubishi Evo 9, powering through the stage in second place again.

Wright maintained his second place after the third stage, Greystoke, and he headed to the first of two tests in Grizedale just nine seconds off the lead.

“The first three stages went really well, we were flat out all the way,” said Wright. “It was very pleasing to be just nine seconds off the lead with the Grizedale stages to come.”

Wright usually goes very well in Grizedale and in the first of the two stages he was an impressive six seconds faster than the rally leader, reducing the deficit to just three seconds. The scene was set for an attack for the lead in the second longer Grizedale test but, sadly for Wright, his victory hopes were ended when the gear linkage broke leaving him stuck in fifth gear and unable to complete the stage.

“I really thought we could get the lead in the second Grizedale test. We had already made up six seconds in the shorter stage so I was confident we could leave the second stage in the lead. Unfortunately it was not to be. It’s very disappointing as I think the victory could’ve been ours but it seems like we’re not having any luck at all so far this year. I was happy that we again showed we are the fastest in our class as well as beating most of the drivers in the class above.’

Wright’s next event is scheduled to be the Somerset Stage in April.

Clubman's Cars No. 1 : Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X FQ330 GSR SST

Welcome to the first in what is hoped to become a regular feature here on Overdrive - Clubman's Cars. Here we'll try and find the best new car to use in club motorsports. The definition we're using to find this car is "a car that may be used every day as a "daily driver" but can also be used, unmodified, for club motorsports."

We've also developed a class system - A+ is for Supercars, A : 2000cc+, B : 1400cc-1999cc and C : up to 1399cc. Forced induction cars have an equivulency formula of 1.4:1 - so this 1998cc Evo X is regarded as having a 2797cc engine

Where better to start than the latest in a long line of road going rally cars, The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. Or to give it it's full title, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR SST... Lets just call it the Evo X...

This name means a lot!

 A Brief history lesson. Group B Rallying was banned in the late 1980s for being too fast, too dangerous, and too expensive. It was replaced with Group A as the standard for the World Rally Championship. The rules said that the car could have up to 2000cc turbocharged engines, 4 wheel drive was allowed too - but the rules also said that there had to be a minimum of 5000 cars built of that exact specification, minus the roll cages and other safety measures of course.

Thus was born a new age of homologation specials. Lancia had their Delta Integralé, Toyota had the Cecilia GT-Four. Subaru entered their WRX model, and Mitsubishi took their Lancer model to their in house tuning department, Ralliart, and came up with the first Lancer Evo for the 1993 season - replacing their Galant GR-4 model. Evo II came in 1994, followed by Evo III in 1995.

Agressive looks bred from years of evolutions on the World's rally stages.

In 1997 the WRC entered a new era with the new WRC class cars, more technical and packed full of electronics - crucially the 5000 examples rule was relaxed, now only the basic shell of the car had to come from production. But Ralliart stuck with the Group A rules and the Evo, now on generation V won the manufacturer's championship against the WRC cars in the hands of the late Richard Burns in 1998. Ralliart finally abandoned Group A in 2001 where the first Lancer WRC appeared - but the now Evo VII continued to be a favourite in the production class of rally car ; Group N. These cars are still in use even though the new R4 standard is slowly replacing them. Few modifications beyond those made for safety are allowed.

And so we reach the tenth evolution, the Evo X. The first impressions are that it hasn't lost any of it's aggressive rally car looks. This car turns heads, and lots of them. The performance specification is impressive too - 330bhp from it's 4 cylinder 2litre engine, thanks to the large Turbocharger. Actually, long before you see the car you can hear it - it's lovely deep growl appears much louder than it really is. Finer details also impress, the big Brembo brakes sit behind multispoke alloy wheels shod with Yokohama low profile tyres. The car's low stance also makes it seem ready to hit the race track - yet this is a 4 door saloon. It's based on the Lancer, which sits in the same class as a common-or-garden commuter car, but the performance is similar to some sports cars. Sticking with the exterior features, the front headlights are self leveling HID units, which are fantastic - giving a great view of the road ahead in a pure white light. Turn the wheel around corners and extra lights illuminate the patch of road you're about to turn into too, a clever feature. The offset number plate is another attention grabbing feature - A feature that goes back several Evolutions to maximise the amount of cold air getting to the radiator.

Comfortable interior features Recaro bucket seats. Stereo's good too

 Slipping into the Recaro driver's seat immediately puts you in the perfect driving position - although the high sides do slightly impede working the handbrake - The seats, whilst not full racing jobs, support you every where you want support and there's even holes for a pair of shoulder straps should you wish to add harnesses. The thick, leather wrapped, steering wheel features controls for the radio and phone, and the dash is simply laid out with the two dials and a small screen between them. The larger screen provides the sat nav - more about that later, and entertainment system. Below that are the customary heater controls, and below that is the gear stick - and here's a surprise... It's an Automatic.
Mitsubishi actually call this an "Automated Manual" and it goes under the name of Twin Clutch SST - which is a twin clutch system. Basically it's two gearboxes with one common output shaft and two clutches. When you're in first, second is already selected and just needs the two clutches to swap over to change gear very quickly! Either leave it in Drive and let the car do it's thing, or use the sequential style shift on the gear stick or the two aluminium paddles behind the wheel to do the job. I found that there was a very slight delay between pulling the paddle and the gearshift - and the lack of a clutch pedal really threw me! Naturally, if you're reading this feature you're interested in motorsport, possibly competing yourself. The use of a gearbox like this in any competition is something of a grey area - The blue book doesn't say you can't use it, but neither does it say you can!
There are more buttons around - a small toggle switch changes between normal (for driving around town), Sport (for driving very quickly) and Super Sport (for driving insanely quickly) - which raise the rev limits between gear shifts in automatic mode. Apparently this has no affect at all on the manual shift mode! Below the gear shift is the button to change the mode of the active differential. You can have Gravel, Snow, or Tarmac, so there are still some rally genes in there! I didn't have the opportunity to try the car on Gravel - and being July here in Wales, snow's somewhat thin on the ground, so this stayed in Tarmac mode for my time with the Evo.

Engine Bay after modifications by WRC developments

There's good news for those looking to use their Evo for competition. This could very well be the ultimate standard road legal sprint car. The enormous amount of power on tap from the 2 litre engine means fantastic acceleration. Either using the paddles or leaving the car in Automatic, the car feels like it will reach 100mph effortlessly... then just keep on going. Certainly on the motorway, at 70mph you can feel the car straining at it's lead, begging to go faster. It actually seems bored, settling into a "I-can-do-this-all-day" hum at around 3000rpm.

It's like taking a Tiger for a walk - it always wants to go quicker, it's powerful enough to go quicker with no problem. If you kick it, it will bite you! On a fast flowing B-Road, the lancer comes into it's element. the road holding is fantastic, handling as if it's a slot car on a scaletrix track thanks to it's stiff suspension and high performance tyres. The fantastic Recaros also are a great help to keep you where you should be! Even out here, at 60mph, it feels like it could effortlessly go quicker around the corners. A peek under the bonnet gives a clue to it's performance - a strut brace runs across the engine bay over the Intercooled Turbocharger and the shiny pipes that were added by WRC Developments when they increased the already impressive performance. The turbo itself sits down between the engine and bulkhead and reminds you of it's presence by hissing at you when you open the throttle. However the fantastic performance and handling does not extend to slow speed manoeuvrability. I found it tricky to manoeuvre around car parks, remembering that it's a relatively big car, and it feels it with surprisingly heavy steering (my VW Polo felt weightless after a week driving the Evo!) Quick changes into Reverse are also difficult with the automatic transmission, especially if you start from manual mode - and I really missed the clutch pedal when trying to ease the car into a parking space. The spoiler also does nothing for rearwards visibility, and neither does the high back end of the car - Then again, I'm only 5' 5" so maybe a taller person wouldn't find this much of an issue.

So, if you do want to go sprinting or hillclimbing, this car could be just the thing, or it would even make a decent race or rally car with the necessary modifications (and a manual gearbox). But if you want it as your one and only car, it's got to be practical...
Firstly, the creature comforts. The air conditioning is great - although turning it on causes the engine to increase revs to compensate. And the gadgets you get are brilliant. It comes with a Sat Nav with a funky touch screen. I tried to get this lost - and succeeded by taking it down some of the new bypass roads that are around here. One of them is 2 years old, but didn't show up at all on the sat nav's map. This confused the dominatrix who lives inside the Sat Nav and barks orders at you ("In two hundred yards, turn left... in one hundred yards, Turn Left!... TURN LEFT!!") but as soon as you return to a road which it does recognise, it returns to normal again. Quite where it thought I had been I've no idea. On the subject of practicality, I subjected the car to two tests.

a) Can you get the Overdrive TV crew in it with the filming kit?
b) Can you go shopping in it?

And the answer to both is yes. The back seats easily accomodated Ulrich, our 6' 2" Sound guy, and all the kit went in very easily. And a weekly shop was easily fitted into the boot. Only the addition of folding rear seats would have made this more practical, along with removing the sub in the boot. On the road, the firm suspension makes the ride lumpy over our not very well maintained roads, and there's quite a bit of vibration in the back.

One of the other functions of the sat nav screen is an info panel that tells you just how well you're doing on fuel economy (it also has an altimeter, barometer, and a thermometer). Which brings us to the Achilles' heel of this car if you have to live with it every day... The cost. The best I could get out of it was 26.8mpg which gave the car a range of just over 200 miles. Using 98RON fuel... Ouch! Then there's the road tax - the test car's tax disc showed £950 for 12 months... Not to mention the insurance, which is group 20. I could forgive the car it's firm ride (the great seats make up for that), but I'm afraid I just couldn't live with the high cost of keeping the thing fuelled. It's also a bit expensive to justify keeping as a second "toy" car.

So if you can live with the high cost of fuelling, insuring and taxing the Evo X, it could make you a great car to compete in speed events with and to do shopping in during the week. If you can't... this isn't the car for you.

Scores

Competition Potential : 7/10

Performance : 9/10

Practicality : 8/10

Economy : 26.8mpg

Total : 51

Current rank : 1st 

[but we haven't tested anything else yet!]

Photos by Matthew Miller. With thanks to Mitsubishi Motors UK and Llandow Circuit.