Jonny Milner has won the International Rally of Wales, which finished in Dolgellau today after inheriting the lead on the day's first stage, when early leader David Higgins lost time with a puncture, dropping him to third.

Irishman Austin MacHale took second on his first visit to the event for many years, with Ducati motorbike boss Paul Bird fourth, Matthew Wilson, the youngest driver on the rally at just 17 years old fifth and Steve Perez sixth.

"After David got a puncture victory was there for the taking," said Milner. "So I backed off to 95 per cent, and for the last stage I took it down to 90 per cent when I smelt David's rubber with four miles to go and knew he had a problem. The dust wasn't as bad as I'd expected but it's not ideal. As far as the Championship's concerned the game's back on."

Milner now lies in seventh position in the Kwik Fit Pirelli British Rally Championship, 16 points behind Higgins in the lead.

After day one [Saturday], Higgins held the overnight lead from Milner with a 16 second advantage but a puncture during the opening Sunday stage dropped him to third place one minute behind the leader and 10 seconds behind MacHale in second place. Higins then pushed to try and gain the position on the final stage when his efforts were hampered by another puncture.

Higgins said: "I've had three punctures on this event and I've never had as many in a year before! I think I had a problem with the tyre gauge in the car as the tyres felt too soft and as though they might have rolled off the rim."

MacHale was 'happy enough' as he took his Ford Focus to second and was delighted when his son Aaron also took second in the production class.

Paul Bird maintains second position in the Kwik Fit Pirelli British Rally Championship after achieving fourth in his Focus. Perez lies third in the championship, one point ahead of Wilson.

Ulsterman Kris Meeke dominated the Super 1600 class. Meeke, not registered for the series, finished ahead of Guy Wilks who takes maximum points.

Dorian Rees won the Production Cup class and took the lead in the Production Championship after early leader Sebastian Ling crashed out on stage five of eight.

The International Rally of Wales was hosted by Dolgellau in Gwynedd. Competitors tackled 102 stage miles over the two days of the event and of the 59 starters, 37 crews reached the finish.

Round three of the Kwik Fit Pirelli British Rally Championship is the Scottish Rally on 11 / 12 June based in Dumfries.