Day three saw Evans go fastest on the opening stage and followed that up with second quickest to Higgins on the Slieu Dhoo stage before retiring in service with a blown diff. Wilks had lost time after hitting a rock and damaging 2 wheels and was now nearly 3 and a half minutes off Higgins, but had Milner rapidly closing in on him.
Both stage 20 and 21 went to Higgins with his team-mate Julian Reynolds, having sorted out damper problems that had plagued him all weekend, going second quickest over Kella 2.
Milner then went a full 10 seconds faster than Wilks on the penultimate stage, but with only the final 14 mile ‘Classic’ left it would be a tall order for him to overhaul the Suzuki, especially as the roads were now bone dry. As it was, despite Milner going quicker, Wilks only dropped 5 seconds.
Higgins ended the event with his 15th fastest stage time to take a well driven victory of almost 4 minutes over Wilks, with Milner doing well to recover from his first day problems to take the final podium spot and top Mitsubishi Evo Challenge honours. Rautenbach brought his Geoff Jones Motorsport-run Subaru Impreza in a brilliant fourth place with Julian Reynolds next.
"All credit to the team, they gave me a fantastic car, it hasn't missed a beat all rally," said Mark. "Tyres were crucial, although it was a case of trying to be least wrong on choice as the weather changed so much."
This result means Higgins extends his lead at the top of the Tesco 99 Octane 2006 MSA British Rally championship standings, with Conrad Rautenbach and Ryan Champion tied for second spot.
Next up is the Phillip White Tyres Ulster Rally, which runs from September 1-3.
