David Stokes and Guy Weaver were the stars of the weekend on round six of the 2006 Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Isle of Man Historic Rally (3-5 August).

On the toughest event on the calendar, Stokes/Weaver turned in a faultless performance to win convincingly as other leading entries dropped out. In the historic category, Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride had a fine rally to win by a comfortable margin.Historic (category 1)Having worked very hard during the recce to completely re-write their pace notes, Nutt/McBride were always going to be tough to beat and they quickly took control of category 1 as the rally started on Thursday evening.That lead extended through Friday as the Porsche ran faultlessly. "We had a good aggressive run on Friday morning and then were a bit canny in the rain," reported Nutt as conditions worsened. Starting the third and final day with a 90-second lead over Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies (Sunbeam Tiger), Nutt/McBride crossed the finish line of the final stage in Douglas with a winning margin of over two minutes after a superb performance.Having been struggling with a misfire from the start, Watts was in survival mode for his first time on the Isle of Man, but took second place after a solid run. "I like the place now, but I didn't like it in the dark," he admitted.With class B4 rivals Jonathan and Graham Gale sidelined when their Lotus Cortina blew it diff, Philip Atkinson/Nicholas Kaighin ran out commanding class winners by taking third in BHRC category 1 in their Lotus Cortina. "We backed off a bit when Jonathan went out," said Atkinson, who was left with a three-minute lead over Neil and Michelle Calvert's similar Lotus Cortina.The event started badly for Calvert when he was stung by a wasp and then concerns over a gearbox cost more time.In B2, Peter Horsburgh/Mick Briggs claimed maximum BHRC points in their Mini Cooper S as their rivals hit dramas. Mike Barratt/Joanne Watson retired early on Friday with overheating and James Stait/Gill Cotton lost a lot of time with a catalogue of problems with the MG Midget. However, they persevered to record a finish.Post-historic (category 2)After the opening three stages on Thursday evening, Steven Smith/John Nichols (Porsche 911S) led the post-historic battle by 20 seconds from Stokes/Weaver.However, it all changed barely two miles into the opening stage of Friday morning when the Porsche clipped a bank and bounced up in the air before landing heavily. The car was barely damaged, but Nichols had injured his back and was in agony, forcing them to pull off at the next junction and seek medical assistance. "The car is fine, but there was no way John could continue," said Smith.Through Friday's stages, Jimmy McRae/Campbell Roy moved ahead in their Porsche 911. "It hasn’t changed much, a few more pot holes and chicanes," reckoned McRae on his first rally on the island since 1997. However, by the end of Friday there were major concerns about the engine and, after more checks on Saturday morning, they withdrew rather than risk blowing the engine up.All the time, Stokes/Weaver had been setting a strong pace and started the final leg with a lead of more than 100s over the Porsche of Andrew Street/Jez Mason. "We're really chuffed with the result," said Weaver after they extended their post-historic winning margin to almost four minutes by the time they led the field back into the final stage that finished at the TT Grandstands.Second in post-historic and a great class C4 win was a rich reward for Street/Mason after a major gearbox drama before the start. Their competition box failed on Thursday morning, but they managed to find a spare standard gearbox in Douglas that had been in storage for 10 years. Incredibly, it all held together and they duly scored their best ever BHRC result.Craig Salter/Preston Ayres also had a fine rally to finish third in category 2 in their Escort Mk1, while winning class B2 and fourth post-historic was an amazing result for John Worthing/Bill Robertson (Escort Mk1). They suffered from a poor seeding on Thursday night and lost time, had oil pressure worries and then clipped a back on Saturday morning and broke a steering bolt. But still they pressed on and some quick work by the service crew had them running again to score a great result. With Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes (Escort Mk1) sidelined by engine problems, Robin Shuttleworth/Mark Midgley had a good event to take second in C2 in their Escort.Leading the chase of Street/Mason in C5 were Peter Lythell/Liz Jordan and Paul Drinkall/Roy Brown in their Porsche 911s and it was Lythell who won their long and sporting contest by just 14 seconds.In C3, Martin Kenny/Dave Stocking emerged to win in their Escort Mk1, despite having to run through the rain of Friday afternoon without a wiper on the driver's side after it fell off. Ian Drummond, on his first rally of 2006, and partnered by Chris Parsons, took second in C3 in his Escort.