CASTLETON'S Ryan Champion leads the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge following victory in round five of the series, the Jim Clark Memorial Rally last weekend.

The 30-year-old North Yorkshire driver, and co-driver Craig Thorley, finished the event with a comfortable margin over second place Evo runner Colin Greer, but the results had shown a very different leaderboard only a few stages before the finish.

" It was a tough rally. We expected to have quite a battle with the other top Mitsubishi crews but it was more eventful than any of us could imagine!" Champion said.

Very early on in the event, two of Champion's main Evo rivals, Nik Elsmore and Stuart Jones fell by the wayside with engine problems. That left him fighting it out with his other main series rival Phil Morrow.

He added: "We had a good battle with Phil early on but he was going very quickly and with my other two main rivals retiring, Craig and I decided it wasn't worth taking too many chances."

"He had built up about a 30 second lead on us when we had a heavy landing over a jump and broke the rear suspension. That also caused us to lose the brakes which was interesting!"

The problem cost Champion three minutes and seemingly any chance of a good result. But amazingly third place runner Neil McCance retired with transmission problems and before Morrow retired with head gasket failure.

Thorley said: "We couldn't believe it.

The MSR Motorsport team did a great job to get our car in perfect order again then we saw Phil parked up on the road side. It's a shame for him because he drove very well."

THE 2005 Rallycross Superprix will take place at Croft on November 6 featuring a new knockout format.

The addition is aimed at adding further drama to the final event in the 2005 Rallycross Super Series.

A maximum of 20 cars will be permitted to start in each of the three divisions (Division 1, Division 1A and Supernational), with each concluding with an eight car spectacular final. The final rounds of the 2005 ADR Motorsport Junior Rallycross Championship and the MDA Rallycross Championship will run alongside the Superprix creating a feast of Rallycross action with a maximum of 16 Juniors, 20 Stock Hatch and 20 Minicross cars being permitted to start.

The winning drivers in each individual class in the Rallycross Super Series Masters, which will be held at Blyton Circuit on Sunday, September 18, will all be guaranteed an entry into the Rallycross Superprix at Croft.

Published: 22/07/2005