There were nail-biting moments this afternoon, as Rally Isle of Man Press Officer Chris Boyd, explains:

 

" It was dramatic stuff! Eamonn Boland and Damien Morrissey, the leaders of the Irish Tarmac Championship fought back at Mark all day.  They had the lead down to 15 seconds with two stages to go.  Mark drove brilliantly over the penultimate stage on the Starvey to only allow Boland to take back three tenths of a second.  It left him 14.7 seconds ahead, with the long classic stage to come over Druidale down Injebreck and out to the TT course at Cronk-ny-Mona and right through to the Grandstand.  We were all anxiously watching and waiting, with the stop-watches prepared!

Mark came flying down Glencrutchery Road and when Boland came a minute or so later, it was clear he hadn't done enough to overhaul him.  It was a fantastic win for Mark Higgins and Rory Kennedy in the Atlas TEG Sport Impreza.  It's the closest ever Rally win - only 11.6 seconds in it between Higgins and Boland.  It's Mark's fourth Rally win, which makes him joint as the 'winning-most driver' of the event with Tony Pond and Russell Brookes.  For Rory Kennedy, it's a first ever win after leading the event several times in the past with the late, great Bertie Fisher from Ireland.  Then in second place, we have Boland coming in , having not quite done enough to wrap up the Irish Tarmac Championship - he'll have to go to the next round in Ulster to do that.  Guy Wilks then takes second place at the British Championship, points just ahead of David Higgins who came home fourth in the Rally, third on the British Championship, which will extend his lead in the Tesco 99 Octane British Rally Championship.

It's been a fantastic three days."