ELFYN Evans and co-driver Craig Parry won the 138.com Rally Isle of Man this weekend (15/17 September) after a gruelling three-day encounter over the classic Manx Tarmac roads.
The Welsh duo were once again the class of the field, taking the lead on the second stage of the rally and holding their advantage until stage 12, when a drive shaft failure dropped the World Championship stars back into second.
Undeterred after a final day tussle with multiple BRC champion Mark Higgins and co-driver Darren Garrod, Evans and Parry overhauled their teammates and arrived at the famous TT Grandstand for the ceremonial finish with a 5.9 second advantage after over 120 competitive stage miles.
“It has been a long and tough weekend and it has been challenging throughout," admitted Dolgellau ace Evans.
"I was still finding out a lot about the car and tyres as we didn’t test beforehand, so there was a lot of tweaking to get the car perfect.
"I wanted to try and go for it and build a comfortable lead and then manage that, but then we hit trouble with drive shaft problems, which cost us nearly a minute.
"The fight was then on and it was a great battle with Mark [Higgins] to try and claw the time back. To do it on stages where he has so much local knowledge was hard, as I haven’t been on these roads since 2010!
“To take victory is the icing on the cake for not only me but the whole team.
"To give them the teams’ championship was ultimately the reason for coming here and I was maybe selfish as well as I wanted to take the fight to Mark and win the event.
"The win tops off a great year in the BRC and a great reward to DMACK and the whole team for their hard work in 2016.”
The fight for second in Britain’s premier rallying series was to go down to the wire on the rally, with five drivers coming into the event with a mathematical chance of finishing runner-up in the championship.
That honour went to Tom Cave and James Morgan who put in one of their best performances in 2016 to take second in the BRC category and third overall.
Desi Henry and Liam Moynihan recorded their third podium this season rounding out the BRC rostrum in their Skoda Fabia R5.
A star-studded entry descended upon the legendary Rally Isle of Man for the 2016 MSA British Rally Championship curtain call.
Topping the bill along with newly crowned champions Elfyn Evans and Craig Parry were Citroen World Rally Championship stars Craig Breen and Scott Martin in a Citroen DS3 R5.
In addition, local hero and three-time British Rally Champion Mark Higgins with Darren Garrod sat alongside, driving a DMACK-supported Ford Fiesta R5 .
A spectacular super-special stage on Douglas Promenade got things underway.
With the Irish Sea as the backdrop, thousands of spectators lined the one-mile stage with crews battling head-to-head with one another on the streets of the Islands capital.
Breen and Martin drew first blood before Evans and Parry in their Ford Fiesta R5 stretched their legs on the two other stages on the opening evening to hold a 12.1 second gap over Welsh compatriots Tom Cave and James Morgan (Fiesta R5).
Breen and Martin suffered engine woes on the third stage, putting paid to their weekend and denying fans of a heavyweight title bout on the picturesque lanes.
Manxman Mark Higgins picked up the mantle to challenge the newly crowned champions. The local star kept Evans honest and was there to strike if the Red Bull athlete encountered any difficulties.
Disaster did strike for Elfyn on stage 12 when his Fiesta R5 went into three-wheel-drive after a driveshaft failed, forcing the champion to limp the Fiesta through the two stages of day two. Higgins stole the march and headed into the final day with 17.5 seconds in hand over his younger rival.
A determined Evans woke up on the final day in an inspired mood and started to chip away at Higgins’ lead.
The local driver’s advantage dipped as low as one tenth of a second going into the penultimate stage. Much to the disappointment of the home crowd, Higgins couldn’t hold off Evans as the Welshman’s momentum saw him inherit the rally lead – stretching out a 5.9 second lead prior to the finish outside the famous TT Grandstand.
Elsewhere, there was to be a monumental scrap for the final podium position on the rally and for second place in the overall championship classifications.
Tom Cave, on his first visit to the island, showed remarkable pace in his Michelin-shod Ford Fiesta R5.
The Welshman started off cautiously but built the speed to hold a high of second before the local knowledge of Mark Higgins saw him get the better of Cave on day two.
Irishman Desi Henry enjoyed the event-long scrap with Cave with the pair finishing just 11.6 seconds apart.
The Skoda Fabia R5 driver notched up his third BRC podium of the year, elevating him up the standings.
Fredrik Ahlin looked to be gaining the fortunes his performances have merited over the season at last, as he challenged for a Rally Isle of Man podium early on.
The Swede had not scored a BRC point since his Pirelli Carlisle victory back in May but the Pirelli-backed driver’s season was to go from bad to worse.
Losing his intercom through stage seven, shortly followed by damage to his engine meant the promising Scandinavian, with Norwegian Morten Erik Abrahamson alongside, went no further on the fast-flowing stages, and was out of the fight for second place in the championship as a result.
BRC2 Champion Matt Edwards continued his successful graduation into the BRC top flight with a fine fourth in the Swift Group backed Fiesta R5, while Jonathan Greer brought the sole remaining Citroen DS3 R5 home to round out the top five BRC runners.
David Bogie had a disappointing event by his high standards as he struggled to find that special ingredient which saw him take a podium last time out in Northern Ireland, finishing sixth.Bogie’s CA1 Sport teammate Alex Laffey was delighted to record his best ever BRC result with seventh as Junior BRC crews Rob Duggan and Sindre Furuseth took eighth and ninth respectively.BRC4 event winner Marty Gallagher took home the final BRC point.