Car-based events don't seem to have quite the same heritage, and yet cars stared it all: in 1904 a qualifying event was held on the island for the French Gordon Bennett races, and for the next three years the TT was held for cars, not bikes. The Manx International Rally has been going since 1963, and such names as Tony Pond and Russell Brooks (four times winners); Jimmy McRae, Roger Clark and Martin Rowe (three times); and
Colin McRae (two times) are immortalised in the record books as past multiple winners.
This year, the likes of Jonny Milner, Justin Dale, David Higgins and Andrew Nesbitt had a tough act to follow, but, believe me, they didn't disappoint. Split into three legs over three days, the organisers (Manx International Rally Limited under the very capable control of committee chairman and event manager Richard Bargery) provided the 58 entries in the International event with 190 very tough and demanding competitive miles over 24 stages. Starting in the evening of Thursday 1 August from Castletown, the ancient capital in the south of the island, the competing crews tackled five stages (The Gate, West Baldwin, Round Table, and two around the streets of Casteltown – 42 miles in total) before heading north to the famous TT Grandstand in Douglas for the overnight parc fermé.
Typically, by the time the first leg started from the ramp positioned in Castletown square, the earlier warm, bright day was starting to deteriorate, giving team managers and crews their normal agonising over what tyres to opt for. The organisers had decided to throw down the gauntlet from the flag, with the first stage being the longest of the rally, 14.22 miles of The Gate. This was then closely followed by a further 11.54 miles of West Baldwin, and Mark Higgins immediately threw down the gauntlet, setting fastest time on three out of the first five stages. Not surprisingly perhaps, Jonny Milner, in his usual Team Dynamics Corolla WRC, and Andrew Nesbitt, in his 1999-spec Subaru Impreza WRC (the Manx being the second of the PBRC rounds qualifying for the Toshiba Irish Tarmac Championship) were his closest contenders. David Higgins (who, with brother Mark, was brought up on the island) also got off to a flying start to lead Group N in his Barretts of Canterbury Impreza, with Justin Dale immediately stamping his authority on the 1600 category in his works Peugeot 206 Super 1600.
