After two short runs around the Castletown Spectator stage Higgins had extended his lead slightly and Ryan Champion was now closing on Wilks with only one stage left on Thursday. A big push by both Wilks and Higgins through the final 8 mile stage on Thursday saw Mark Higgins end the day 9 seconds ahead of Wilks whilst the two works Mitsubishi drivers, Ryan Champion and Rory Galligan, were next up, a further 6 seconds further back, but both unhappy with the set-ups on their cars.
Day two was typical Isle of Man weather, dry and cloudy in service, but foggy and wet on the opening stage. Mark Higgins made the right call on tyres and not only went 10 seconds quicker than Evans, the closest BRC competitor, but also went an incredible second fastest overall against the Irish World Rally Cars. Third fastest amongst the BRC contenders was Jonny Milner, eager to make up for the time lost on Thursday.
Higgins continued with his rapid performance by going 17 seconds quicker than Evans over the next stage, whilst Champion, Galligan and Wilks all chose the wrong tyres, costing them time.
This stage also saw the demise of Stephen Petch Junior who lost control of his SG Petch Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo IX on a tight and twisty section and crashed heavily into a wall. Although very sore both crew were ok.
With tyres that were not perfect for the stage Higgins backed off slightly and Champion went quickest, from Milner. This meant that at first service Higgins still led from Wilks but Galligan had passed Champion and was only 2 seconds behind the Suzuki driver, who was struggling for traction in his 2 wheel drive S1600.
Stages 9 and 10 both went to Higgins but the chasing pack were not far off and no one could afford to back off at all. Stage 10 saw Justin Dale in the giant killing Renault Clio retire with mechanical problems, elevating Matt Beebe into the lead of the 2 wheel drive production category.
