Evo Challenge set for Sunseeker launch.

The 2007 Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge will blast off in Bournemouth on Friday and Saturday's Rallye Sunseeker, with the high-profile one-make series for Group N Lancer Evolutions commencing its seventh consecutive season.

Now featuring a calendar which includes six Hankook MSA Gravel Rally Championship rounds and two Pirelli Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship rounds, the Evolution Challenge sees a strong and well subscribed entry of 24 cars for its first event of the year.

"It's great that this championship continues to attract so many teams - and such a range of drivers - from a former British Champion to another who will be competing in a Mitsubishi for the very first time," championship co-ordinator Simon Slade said. "I'm also pleased to see such a high quality entry as well, which makes it difficult to predict a winner, especially as everyone's driving a similar specification car."

Returning to the Evo Challenge fold for another crack at the title is 2006 runner-up Jonny Milner, who starts this weekend's event as the series' number one seed.

Mitsubishi introduces latest Evo

If it weren't for the giant wing, the nondescript gray Mitsubishi Lancer might well have drawn no more attention than any other compact commuter car.
But there it was, towering above the tail end of the four-door sedan, piquing the interest of the knowing and unknowing alike.
To the enthusiasts who encountered the car on the open road, the wing signaled the presence of the very special, relatively rare Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX SE -- a near clone of cars that the Japanese manufacturer campaigns in the World Rally Championship.
To the rest of the folks who passed by in a few mall parking lots, well, I couldn't actually tell if they were impressed by the sheer audacity of that wing or if they were simply amused at the sight of what appeared to be some gray-haired old goat maneuvering (OK, struggling) to get over the rigid Recaro seat bolsters on his way in and out of the car.

Impreza WRX STI delivers on speed and cost

High-performance sedans can not be purchased at a discount factory direct store but heck, who doesn't wish they could get one off the bargain rack? Well, it appears Subaru is in the dream fulfillment business.