Back to business

TQ driver David Higgins and his co-driver Ieuan Thomas have a non-stop week ahead of them getting ready for the Jim Clark International Rally on May 25-27.

The team will spend Monday and Tuesday at the MIRA testing facility and Wednesday in Balla in Wales, to ensure they find the perfect asphalt set up, and give David plenty of time behind the wheel before the Scottish event. From there it will be straight to Kelso to recce the stages before a pre-event shakedown at Floors Castle that night.

"Three days testing so close to the event will be fantastic," says David. "After the problems we had on the Pirelli International Rally we went home with just two points. We'll be aiming for maximum points this time round."

David, and his sponsor and fellow TQ RED driver Hugh Evans, have also undertaken driving tuition from F1 driver trainer Rob Wilson to up their game on asphalt. "We learned a lot with Rob, but transferring what we were taught in a saloon car on a race track into driving a rally car on the stages will be the big test on the Jim Clark," says David.

He may not have taken many points, but David set stunning times in the TQ RED Toyota S2000R on the Pirelli having never sat in the car before. He was just 0.4 seconds off a fastest stage time on the gravel event, and the car is expected to perform even more impressively on asphalt.

"On paper it looks like the car will be highly competitive on asphalt," says David. "It is lighter and has less torque than a Group N car which can put it at a disadvantage on gravel. I just can't wait to get back into the car again for the test runs. It's stunning."

David and Ieuan are seeded at number 8 on the Jim Clark International Rally entry list. Their TQ RED team mates Hugh, and his co-driver Iestyn Williams, are seeded at number 31 in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9.