Mitsubishi Evo Challenge Finale Invades Infineon

Mitusbishi's Lancer Evolution Challenge concluded yesterday at Infineon Raceway, with one talented winner walking away with a free one-year lease on a 2011 Lancer Evo MR. An offshoot of the partnership Mitsubishi began with the Jim Russell school back in 2009, as far as driving challenges go, you couldn't have asked for more appropriate weather than the day-long deluge that greeted contestants and Mitsubishi's all-wheel-drive phenom.

Eleven finalists made the trip to the soaked Infineon Raceway north of San Francisco, some from as far afield as Peru. Invitees were those who'd enrolled this past year in the Lancer Evolution Experience, ably run by instructors from the Jim Russell school. Students who'd taken the $995 one-day course and turned the fastest lap among their classmates were invited back to Infineon to compete against the other fast-lap turners for prizes, including the Grand Prize of the one-year MR lease.

For the Challenge, a series of autocross courses were coned out on Infineon's expansive asphalt lots, with the entertaining day's vibe resting somewhere between the Race of Champions (ROC), and Marty's mall-lot DeLorean romp in Back To the Future. At the end of the day, the driver-against-driver tournament produced a champion: Reno, Nevada's Mark Nason. Nason narrowly edged out Frank Michell who had travelled back from Peru for the challenge finale.

The full-day event started with morning slalom and autocross drills to refamiliarize the Evo Experience graduates with cornering techniques and the MR's impressive all-wheel drive setup. Though consistent rainfall took tire wear out of the day's equation, grip was still impressive, and the hot setup seemed to be Super Sport automated shift mode, traction control off, and stability control on. We had a chance to get in the cars for all the drills, and could confirm the cone sparing ability of the MR's stability control setup.

After a break for lunch (and a few minutes out of the constant rain), a multi-lap timed standing-start to standing-stop autocross round in a manual-tranny Evo GSR helped winnow the field from 11 to a more bracket-friendly eight. The Elite Eight then took to a new symmetrical autocross course in the Evo MR, where much like the ROC, they ran simultaneously in pairs on adjacent loops, and then swapped cars/course to eliminate any variables.

The competition was so tight, several tie-breaking rounds were run after competitors turned identical times to the hundredths of a second. The final round was just as tight, and Michell and Nason were neck and neck until Michell had a shifting snafu that left him unintentionally in neutral during his first lap. Victory went to Nason (below, right), who was stoked about his upcoming Evo MR lease. "I've got a lease that's up in two months, and now I've got an Evo to drive! I live in Reno, there's snow on the ground, and an all-wheel-drive sports car is exactly what I need."

Michell (above, left) was still thrilled and will be back from Peru to Infineon, as second prize was the Jim Russell Advanced School of Racing, an immersive three-day course that uses the single-seat, 1,250-pound, FJR-50 F3 car powered a 300 horsepower Lancer Evo engine. Third place went to Jeff Leong, who garnered himself a free trip to the Jim Russell Karting school.

If all this sounds like sick fun (it is), you've got a shot at the same glory and gifts as Mitsubishi has decided to continue the Experience and Challenge programs for 2011.