Rallying focus comes to Ulster after Manx Rally

The rallying focus will shifts to Ulster in early September after the excitement of the Manx Rally.

Once again, as a round of the British Championship, the Super 1600s will lead the field away, but the WRC entry in Ulster promises to be stronger than ever for this short, sharp event.

The Manx Rally may not have been an epic battle nor was it, for that matter, another crushing demonstration by Andrew Nesbitt, but this year's event was important nonetheless.

And when, as seems increasingly likely, the Armagh man clinches his second Toshiba Tarmac title, he will look back on the Manx as being another in an impressively long list of sound decisions.

On the road, the event belonged to Mark Higgins; the local man took command on the first day in his DGM Toyota Corolla WRC and never let go, eventually building up a lead of almost five minutes.

Behind him, Jonny Milner led the chase for much of the event in his similar car, but third throughout was Nesbitt's Cuisine de France Impreza, and when Milner was hit by gearbox problems towards the end, it was the Armagh man who profited.

But in many ways, second to Higgins was a bonus for Nesbitt, who, as the leading registered Toshiba Tarmac contender, had been in a maximum points scoring position throughout.

Jonny Milner brought his Toyota Corolla home third, while David Higgins came home fourth, just ahead of Eamonn Boland.

As the second Toshiba contender home, Boland took runner-up points to Nesbitt, strengthening his hold on second place in the Championship while third place points go to Alistair Ginley, who also

finished seventh overall in his Mitsubishi behind the leading Super 1600,