Mark Higgins took the victory on the Total Manx Rally Saturday - round five of the 2005 Kwik Fit Pirelli British Rally Championship, not only was it his third victory on the Isle of Man, it was also his fourth win from five starts in this year's BRC.
The white and green streaked Eddie Stobart Ford Focus won each and every one of the 23 special stages, a feat unmatched in the annals of the BRC.
Kenny McKinstry came close to spoiling the party, the Subaru matching the Ford on one stage on Friday, but that was as close as he got.
It was a scintillating performance and commentators were fast running out of superlatives to describe the feat.
"It wasn't important at the beginning," said Higgins, "it was all about winning the rally, but as the event went on winning each stage became the target."
On paper Higgins' winning margin made the job look easy.
"It was a tough event, wet and slippery on Thursday and Friday," he added, "and treacherous in places, but Bryan [Thomas - my co-driver] and I found a pace we were happy with and stuck with it."
At first the competition was pretty fierce, but it wilted as the early pace heated up. Kenny McKinstry was running the former British champion close until Friday night when the Subaru swapped ends in a tight Manx lane and the multiple Irish champion was out.
British title rival Austin MacHale also struck trouble early on. His Sanyo Ireland Ford Focus almost drowned out in a rain-filled ford on Friday morning and the minutes slipped crucially away before the beast fired cleanly on all four cylinders once again. MacHale dropped to 17th place and thereafter spent the rally fighting to get back into the top ten, rather than fighting for the lead. He eventually finished sixth.
Eugene Donnelly finished a fighting second with his battle scarred Toyota showing evidence of his efforts. He had earlier whacked a chicane bale - on the co-driver's side! - and bumped the front end on the banking when the brakes started to wilt under the strain.
