Fastest time for Rory Galligan over the penultimate stage made little difference to Gwyndaf Evans as he was now just maintaining a 55 second lead over Mark Higgins with only the final 2.8 mile super special stage left to go.
Another fastest time for Stuart Jones, with Higgins and Evans tying for 2nd fastest on the final stage rounded off a successful weekend for the Hankook team as Gwyndaf Evans took victory on the fourth round of the 2006 championship. Second place was practically good enough to guarantee Manxman Mark Higgins the title – all he needs now is to score a single point on the next round to take his third title.
Third place was just reward for a fine drive from Rory Galligan, who had struggled to find the pace earlier in the event, whilst Stu Jones was very pleased with fourth, 22 seconds ahead of Higgins team-mate Julian Reynolds.
James Wozencroft kept it all together to take his first S1600 victory whilst a crash for Matt Beebe had hampered his championship hopes and allowed Justin Dale a relatively untroubled run to R3 victory.
Gwyndaf Evans was understandably overjoyed with the result: "What a day we have had. It has been one of the toughest events I've had to tackle, which makes the victory even more satisfying."
Higgins, however, was philosophical about the days proceedings: "It was very frustrating to get a puncture so late in the day but I guess it was just our turn! However second place puts us in a good points position going into the next round as we only need to finish to win the championship for the third time."
Whilst the overall championship honours look likely to be decided on the next round the fight for second could rage on until the final round of the 2006 championship, with no less than seven drivers in with a chance at grabbing the runner up spot.
The next round is the International Rally of Yorkshire on October 7.
