Sebastian Ling Ulster Rally summary

Ling fights back to claim second on Ulster Rally Welshman Sebastian Ling recovered from a character building opening leg of last weekends Ulster rally to stage a spirited fight back up the leader board to eventually take second overall in the Evo ...

Ling fights back to claim second on Ulster Rally

Welshman Sebastian Ling recovered from a character building opening leg of last weekends Ulster rally to stage a spirited fight back up the leader board to eventually take second overall in the Evo Challenge.

The Newcastle Emlyn resident, co-driven by fellow Welshman Aled Rees in the Philip Ling Estates backed Kumho shod SW Motorsports built Mitsubishi Evo 9 had been hoping for a competitive run on the notoriously tricky Irish rally but things began to go badly on the very first stage. The starter cable had worked itself loose and when Sebastian suffered a brief spin and then stalled the engine he lost a lot of time whilst spectators rushed to his aid. Then, on the very next stage he caught another competitor mid stage, costing him time as they tried to find a way past.

An excursion through a closed gate and into a field not only destroyed their spotlights but also cost the pair even more time. A discontent Sebastian returned to Armagh at the end of the opening leg languishing down in 21st position!

The pair decided to push hard on Day 2 and with the Pro Dent supported Evo running faultlessly the pair set a string of storming stage times and rapidly climbed back up the leader board and moving into second in the Evo Challenge on the very last stage. Not only had they moved back into a podium position but their times were right up there with the best of both the British and Irish contenders, proving once again that this talented Welshman has the pace to mix it with the very best!

I just wish our rally could have begun on Saturday. Everything went wrong on Friday night but once we'd cleaned up our act we were bang on the pace. Both Aled and I were pleased with our times on Saturday as they showed we could mix it with the British Championship regulars on what is a really tricky rally!

Next up is the International Rally of Yorkshire where, once again, the Evo Challenge goes head to head with the British Rally Championship, giving Sebastian another chance to prove his pace against some of the best pilots in the country.