Ian Tunney and Chris Boyde (Mitsubishi Starion) made it back to back wins in the Isle of Man Road Rally Championship on last weekends March Rally, with rallying surviving heavy snowfalls for the second week running.

Two of their main opponents hit problems in the first quarter of a mile of the event at Glen Rushen, with Nigel Cannell/Emma Corlett losing a wheel on their Vauxhall Corsa and John Corlett/Roy Sweetman retiring after breaking the exhaust manifold on their BMW.

The eventual winners were more than two minutes clear at half-distance after further sections in the south of the island but a wrong-slot on Druidale handed the initiative to Ted Sayle/Bruce Craig (Ford Escort). However, they in turn missed a codeboard at the white-out that was Brandywell Cottage, allowing Matt Bettridge/Norman Quayle (Peugeot 205) to take second despite night-long trip problems. Jess Collister had her best ever result in third place, navigated by father Graham.

Leading historic marathon competitor John Bateson won the non-experts class (Ford Escort), an excellent result for newcomer navigator Tina Lowe. Maurice Snell/Janet Craine (Vauxhall Corsa) and Geoff Burchill/Kevin Vondy (Vauxhall Nova) took second and third as the only other fail-free crews.