REIGNING American champions David Higgins and Craig Drew clinched their second consecutive Rally America title with a fine second overall on the New England Rally.

They went into the event knowing that a top six finish would be good enough for the USA Championship.

Eleven stages stood between them and the crown – four on Friday night.

Running behind Antoine L'Estage (Evo 10) Higgins encountered horrendous problems with hanging dust.

Co-driver Craig, from Bream, said: "It was the worst dust problem I have ever seen, it was dangerous to push too hard because we couldn't see a thing."

At the end of leg one L'Estage held a 36 second lead over Higgins.

Day two consisted of seven more stages with the organisers wisely giving competitors a three minute gap. The Subaru USA team began to reel in L'Estage, driving with something in hand.

By the end of leg two Higgins had closed the gap to 16 seconds. More importantly, they had done more than enough for the title.

"We're absolutely delighted," said Craig.

"Now we can go to the last round in September and have a straight fight with Ken Block, which will be great for the spectators."