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| Ursäkta att det inte är på svenska! Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge Sweden - Round 5 Round five of the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge Sweden takes place this weekend, the Norrköping-based Bilam-Trofén replacing August's Killingen Rally, after the event was cancelled due to excessive rain making the gravel roads too fragile to run the event. As well as the Mitsubishi series, the Bilam-Trofén is also a round of the Swedish Rally Championship and therefore takes place over two days and covers a competitive distance of 80 kms. Starting from Norrköping at 17.00 on Friday, the first leg sees five stages in the surrounding forests before the overnight halt, plus a further six stages on Saturday, the rally finishing at 13.30 back in the host town. Having won two rounds of the Evo Challenge so far - the Kong Christian Race and the Kvarnturen Rally, Andreas Magnusson and co-driver Henrik Hulterskog currently lead the championship for N4 Lancer Evolutions and start the event as favourites. Next to start is Tobias Gustavsson/Fredrick Leierth who started the season late, but proved they can challenge for the top position last time out when they had a good run to take second place on the Kvarnturen Rally. Third in the series standings and starting in third place for this event, are Joachim Carlström/Jörgen Norman, who's consistant performance has seen them regularly finish on the Evo Challenge podium. Although 11 points behind, mathmatically they still have a chance of lifting the title as all teams have to drop a score from one of the six rounds. Second in the championship are Hans-Erik Weng/Anders Fredriksson who will be driving hard to ensure that they keep their championship hopes alive - especially after winning round three - the South Swedish Rally, when the Mitsubishi series previously featured a round of the national championship. Mikael Gustafsson/Ola Persson are joining the Mitsubishi series for their third event of the season and are gradually getting used to their Evo IX. They start as the fifth-seeded Evolution Challenge team this weekend. Becuase of the change of event for round five, the sixth and final round, the Rejmeknixen in Askersund, takes place just one week later on 20 September, making it an exciting conclusion to the very first year of the Swedish Evolution Challenge. The 2008 Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge Sweden is supported by: Mitsubishi Motors Sweden, Pirelli tyres, Sunoco fuel, Performance Friction Brakes, Speedline Corse wheels (www.ppe.com), PIAA lights, Sparco racewear, Mpart and RPM Promotions. Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge Sweden - Round 5 Entries in start number order 8 Andreas Magnusson (Skeppshult)/Henrik Hulterskog (Stensjön) 11 Tobias Gustavsson (Finspång) /Fredrik Leierth (Kolmården) 14 Joachim Carlström (Rockneby)/Jörgen Norman (Torsås) 16 Hans-Erik Weng (Säffle)/Anders Fredriksson (Årjäng) 18 Mikael Gustafsson (Ludvika)/Ola Persson (Uppsala) Championship positions after round 4 Drivers 1 Andreas Magnusson 41 2 Hans-Erik Weng 38 3 Joachim Carlström 27 4 Jimmy Joge 18 5 Jonas Ericsson 23 6 Tobias Gustavsson 10 7 Mikael Gustafsson 8 8 Joachim Borg 6 9 Kenneth Jonsrød 5 Co-drivers 1 Henrick Hulterskog 41 2 Anders Fredriksson 38 3 Jorgen Norman 27 4 John Stigh 23 5 Mikael Johansson 12 6 Fredrik Leierth 10 7 Ola Persson 9 8 Lill-Erik Gustafsson 6 |