Official rally reports of rally driver Ryan Champion

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19/03/05 Border Counties Rally - Mitsubishi Ralliart Evo Challenge Round 2

SO CLOSE FOR CHAMPION!

After three successive non finishes in his Pirelli backed Champions of Castleton Mitsubishi Lancer, North Yorkshire driver Ryan Champion eventually got his 2005 Mitsubishi Ralliart Evo Challenge campaign up and running in the most dramatic fashion after yesterdayďż˝s Jedburgh-based Brick and Steel Border Counties Rally went down to the wire ďż˝ literally!

After seventy two miles of stages and an hour an a quarterďż˝s competition in the treacherously slippery, rough and notoriously unforgiving forests of the Kielder complex, the smallest possible margin ďż˝ just a tenth of a second - separated Champion and York co driver Craig Thorley from eventual winners Phillip and Simon Morrow.

Following on from retirement on the opening round of the series at Rallye Sunseeker in Bournemouth last month, Champion was intent on a good result in the Scottish borders. Despite losing twenty seconds with a rear puncture on stage 5 and another few on 6 when he came across a stationary Ford Focus partially blocking the road, Ryan entered the last stage just six seconds behind the leader with the top four crews separated by just ten seconds.

There, Champion set the fastest time but as the other crews emerged from the Wauchope 2 test near Hawick, it was Ulsterman Morrow who had wrested victory by just that 0.1 of a second. Despite his frustration at missing out on the win by such a tiny amount, Champion was happy enough with the result:

ďż˝At last Iďż˝ve broken my duck and Iďż˝m delighted to see the finish ramp for a change. To lose out by a tenth of a second is frustrating but I have to say all credit to Phil because he drove really well all day and had his problems too. I'm really looking forward to the tarmac of the Isle of Man now. I've gone well there in the past so hopefully we can get a good result there this year too," said the 29 year old. As a result, Champion moved into the top six of the Driverďż˝s series with Thorley doing likewise in the Co drivers standings going into the next round and the Roush Manx Rally on May 6/7
Round 2 ďż˝ Mitsubishi Ralliart Evo Challenge Results. 1 Phillip Morrow/ Simon Morrow Evo 6 1:13:35.2 2 Ryan Champion/Craig Thorley Evo 6 1:13.35.3 3 Nik Elsmore/Nigel Gardner Evo 7 1:13.45.7 4 Colin Greer/Neil Ewing Evo 6 1:13.56.5 5 Anthony Wilmington/Andy White Evo 7 1:16.42.5 6 Alex Sabater/Miquel Amblas Evo 7 1:17.53.9 Mitsubishi Ralliart Evo Challenge Drivers positions (after round 2) 1 Nik Elsmore 18 2 Anthony Wilmington 15 3 Colin Greer 14 4= Stuart Jones 12 Simon Morrow 12 6= Ryan Champion 11 Richard Hill 11