David Higgins is undertaking a testing programme to ensure his points haul on the Ulster Rally this weekend keep his hopes of netting a second British Rally Championship title alive.
David and his co-driver Ieuan Thomas have had a mixed year in their TQ RED Toyota S2000R so far. Having successfully scored second place BRC points on the Jim Clark Rally, they were disappointed to have to make use of superally regulations to finish Rally Isle of Man when the Toyota’s engine overheated.
“Ulster is critical to our championship now,” says David. “As well as overheating on the Manx we suffered with tyre problems. Since then Pirelli have addressed the problems we had, so things should be better in Ulster. But regardless of the handling problems we had our car is generally lighter on tyres than a Group N car anyway. The control tyre is just too hard for us so the aim of this test is to get the car to work the tyres harder on the rally.
“Since Rally Isle of Man the team has also worked on the suspension set up. The mixture of that and the tyres should cure the problems we had on the Manx. The Ulster Rally has always been an event I look forward to, but unfortunately not one I’ve ever been very lucky on.
“In the BRC you drop two scores. We’ve had two bad rounds on the Manx and on the Pirelli where we went OTL before the start when the car arrived late at the start ramp. They have to be our dropped scores, we need to do well in Ulster to keep our championship hopes alive.”
David and Ieuan continue to be backed by TQ Education and Training. Their team mate, and TQ boss, Hugh Evans will make his Ulster Rally debut this weekend as he continues his inaugural year in the championship driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 alongside David.
The team have also secured a new sponsor, the Shrewsbury branch of car sales firm Inchcape.
To keep up to date with his progress during the rally visit davidhigginsrally.com where David will post daily updates during the event.
