The final day was a case of survival and ensuring the car was brought home in one piece. Boardman was not content with leading his class and was pushing to set some good times against the 2.0ltr class leader.
"I was under a lot of pressure to finish the event which I knew I had to do. I was content with a class win but I also would have like to beat everyone in the two classes above,” he noted. “They have much more power and experience but if you're competitive you're competitive so if there is someone ahead I want to beat them. After landing in the grass at 100mph off a nasty jump I received a good telling off from Kevin, my co-driver which then prompted a phone call before the last stage of the rally from the team boss, John Kneen, telling me the importance of finishing the event.
"The beginning of the final leg was a little nerve racking as I could hear every squeak and rattle in the car; I would be extremely disappointed if the car was to let me down now. I started the penultimate stage cautiously but after that I was enjoying myself too much to slow down and we set a good time. The final ‘Classic' stage was the best of the rally past the famous Brandywell cottage and winding down some very fast and technical roads into Douglas town and across the finish at the TT Grandstand in front of thousands of spectators. That was an amazing feeling! Just brilliant! I can't wait until the next rally."
Boardman went out to win his class on the highest profile event he could enter to raise his profile in the sport and to prove that he has the talent to compete against the best: "Our sponsors are absolutely critical when competing at this level so it is very important that we perform well and finish rallies," he concluded. "It is very satisfying to win the class but to win by 12 minutes and to beat much more powerful machinery, and finishing 29th overall is the best confidence boost I could have.
