Mark Higgins won the AnswerCall Direct Ulster Rally with ease today as reigning British champion Jonny Milner suffered a blow to his title hopes.
Milner, who is battling for a third consecutive British crown, held sixth overnight but crashed his Subaru a mile into this morning's opening stage and retired.
Higgins had already taken a major step towards victory at that point and he never looked threatened this afternoon. The Isle of Man-born driver brought his Ford to the finish line in Armagh with a cushion of two minutes, 38.6 seconds on second-placed Eugene Donnelly, driving a Toyota.
Title challenger Austin MacHale completed the podium in his Ford, despite being given a 10-second penalty for a rules infringement.
Nearly five minutes separated MacHale from Higgins, who dominated the event and won six of today's 11 stages, making it 12 from 19 in all.
Tim McNulty brought his Subaru home in fourth, one place clear of the similar car of Eamonn Boland. Matthew Wilson, the son of Ford rally boss Malcolm Wilson, rounded out the top six in a Ford Focus.