Further down the order, Alessandro Bettega was fourth on only his second outing in a Group N car and as with many of his competitors', he struggled with confidence a little in the fog on day 1. He also had shock absorber problems on Saturday, but with so many of his rivals falling prey to the conditions, he still notched up a very respectable result.

David Higgins was fifth, his major problem coming on day 2 when he had to stop to change a puncture – something that cost him around 2.5 minutes.

Of the rest, Mirco Baldacci rounded out the top six, with Armindo Araujo and Stepan Vojtech seventh and eighth respectively.

“This rally was especially tough,” said Vojtech, “but I am very happy that we crossed the finish line. I don't remember how many tyre damages we had. We are headed in the right direction though and want to continue this way now.”

In total 9 of the 22 PWRC runners failed to finish, the most noticeable retiree, Gabriel Pozzo. Pozzo had been in contention for the Production title, but his off on Friday in SS5 proved decisive. He was unable to re-join and his demise guaranteed Toshi Arai his second PWRC crown.

Arai was not competing this weekend in Britain as it was not one of his six nominated events.