Atlas TEG Sport Rally Team leader Mark Higgins took his second BRC win in succession on the International Rally Isle of Man last weekend, the third round in the 2008 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship.
Higgins, who also took the overall honours, holding off Eamonn Boland's Subaru Impreza World Rally Car by 11.6 seconds, was understandably delighted with the result, especially as he was competing in a Group N machine. It is the first time ever a Production car has won the event overall.
"That was a fairly hard push over the last two stages. We knew it was make or break," the triple British Rally champion told the official BRC website. "We took a couple of risks on the last test. It is one of my favourite stages over here. But going in there with a 14 second lead meant we had a bit of a cushion and that meant we didn't have to take silly risks.
"It is a great feeling to get the victory - and just really fantastic to take the overall win too."
The result means Mark has now won his home event a record four times, something only two other people have ever achieved, namely Tony Pond and Russell Brookes.
"That is pretty special," he continued. "I hadn't thought about that [and equally that record].
"For me though it is just wonderful to win my home rally. It wasn't very easy.
"But it's brilliant we have sunshine at the end for the finish. What a great way to end the weekend. TEG have done a fantastic job of setting the car up and once again it ran faultlessly."
Higgins now moves up to second in race for the 2008 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship title, eight points behind his brother David, who leads and two points up on last year's champion, Guy Wilks, who fought back to finish second in the BRC after losing 3 minutes on day two when he had to stop and change a wheel. The picture though is somewhat more complex than it might first appear, as competitors can only count their best five scores from seven rounds.
