Unfortunately Robert Woodside, who had gone so well on the
Jim Clark, was the first casualty of the event, retiring his Impreza WRC on the first stage with broken wheel studs after taking a jump rather too enthusiastically.
Undoubtedly the highlights of Thursday evening (for us mere spectators at least) were the two stages run around Castletown harbour that brought the first leg to a close. An important element in increasing the popularity of rallying is putting together some spectacular action – preferably in a picturesque setting – where Joe Public can watch very fast cars pop and bang around tight corners (throw in a rain-slicked surface for good measure) at impossible angles. As darkness fell, the sizeable crowd was able to enjoy International rallying at its best, with the forecourt of the strategically-placed harbour pub adding the perfect touch to a highly entertaining evening. When the cars arrived back in Douglas, Higgins (Mark) was the overall leader from Milner and Nesbitt. Higgins (David) was next up, leading Group N from the ever-improving Alistair Ginley (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo7) and Irish Toshiba N4 leader Trevor Cathers (Evo5). Fifth-placed man overall, Justin Dale, was convincingly leading the 1600s from Peugeot team-mate Rory Galligan and Guy Wilkes (Ford Puma).
The only other retirement by the end of Leg 1 (apart from Robert Woodside) was Shaun Fox (A6 Corsa), but the surprising news was that Andrew Nesbitt/James O'Brien had checked out of the last service four minutes late, thus picking up one minute 50 seconds of penalties. It was somehow comforting to know that even the top rally teams can sometimes make elementary mistakes.
