David and Ieuan's review of the year
The year 2007 has been a manic one for David Higgins and Ieuan Thomas as they managed to score points in the British Rally Championship, the Chinese Rally Championship, the Production World Rally Championship, and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
They must have had one of the most chequered seasons of any British rally crew, as they travelled across Britain and China competing.
They won all five rounds of the Chinese championship, and were the first people ever to win every round of the series, but their British season got off to a bad start when they took the bold decision to become the first team to compete in the British championship in a Super 2000 car.
Their year got off to the worst possible start in fact, when David and Ieuan arrived at the start ramp of the Pirelli International Rally without their car. The RED crew, who ran the Toyota S2000R, were still working on it until late in service and got stuck in traffic on the road section, leaving the TQ.com crew dejected and OTL before the rally even started.
But like professionals, they got into the car, ignored the fact they were OTL and set stunning times. And with no pre-event testing, the first time they sat in the car was on the start ramp. David set two second fastest stage times, one of which was only 0.4 seconds off fastest.
Next up was the Jim Clark Rally, the S2000Rs first time on asphalt. Before the event David had tuition from F1 racing driver trainer Rob Wilson to up his game on asphalt. Despite fuel problems over the weekend, David and Ieuan took second overall on the rally. With David’s brother Mark winning, it was a Higgins family one-two on the podium.
The boys faced a race against time to get back from competing in China on time to get to Rally Isle of Man for the recce, but they made it.
When things worked well with the Toyota on the Manx island the crew stormed through the stages to set three fastest stage times, but unfortunately it didn’t last. The crew suffered tyre problems, and the car constantly overheated meaning David and Ieuan had to keep topping it up with water throughout the event. After 19 stages, with only 3 left to go, the car cried enough and the crew had to finish under superally rules. They were lying third in the BRC points when they retired.
Over the water to Ulster next and what was to become the last event for the troubled Toyota. Once again the crew were forced to use superally regulations to finish after the car cut out in the eighth stage and a mechanic had to come out to re-start the car. The decision to withdraw the car from the British championship was announced by RED two days later.
David said he was looking forward to the last few events to finish the season on a high, and he did. For Trackrod Rally Yorkshire and Rally GB they competed in the Autotek-run Subaru Impreza which Nasser Al-Attiyah used in the PWRC in Greece this year.
They finished third on the Pickering-based event, despite a horrific incident which nobody could have predicted. As David and Ieuan drove over a blind crest in what was a closed road and live rally stage, they saw a digger coming towards them on the road. The spikes on the digger were lowered to windscreen height and it was lucky it happened to such a professional driver. David was somehow able to steer the car through a tiny gap between the digger and the hedge to keep going without anyone getting hurt. Understandably the event made David nervous on future blind crests, so taking third was an amazing feat.
The BRC finale was a double header round on Britain’s WRC event, Rally GB. The TQ.com crew returned to the Autotek Subaru. This time there was more in mind than the BRC, the crew had registered for Production World Rally Championship points as well by buying Nial McShea’s PWRC entry for the event.
During the weekend they took fourth and third in the two BRC events, and sixth in the PWRC.
The British result left David sixth in the drivers championship, and Ieuan fifth in the co-drivers championship.
With all the trials of Super 2000 going on in Britain, China could not have been more different. It really is as simple as saying – five events, they dominated them all to take maximum points.
The result made their WY rally team champions, but neither David nor Ieuan pick up a Chinese title because they are not Chinese.
On the first round in Shanghai they won by 18 seconds, on the second round, the Huairou Rally, they were fastest on every stage bar two, and on the Liupanshui Rally they won again.
Next was the Kaiyang Rally where they described the rally as their perfect run as they won both legs and the event, and finally to Longyou which was also a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
The WY rally team boss had asked David to hold back to ensure he won them the team’s title. But with competitors from all over the world there to contest the IRC David said holding back was his hardest job.
For the first time all year the crew’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 developed a misfire losing them time. Despite that and being told to hold back, they led the Chinese and IRC points by 44 seconds after the first leg. After that they never looked back to take their fifth consecutive Chinese win from five and seal the team’s title for WY.
The crew’s plans for 2008 have not yet been confirmed, but be sure they will be back for more, bigger and better than ever.
They must have had one of the most chequered seasons of any British rally crew, as they travelled across Britain and China competing.
They won all five rounds of the Chinese championship, and were the first people ever to win every round of the series, but their British season got off to a bad start when they took the bold decision to become the first team to compete in the British championship in a Super 2000 car.
Their year got off to the worst possible start in fact, when David and Ieuan arrived at the start ramp of the Pirelli International Rally without their car. The RED crew, who ran the Toyota S2000R, were still working on it until late in service and got stuck in traffic on the road section, leaving the TQ.com crew dejected and OTL before the rally even started.
But like professionals, they got into the car, ignored the fact they were OTL and set stunning times. And with no pre-event testing, the first time they sat in the car was on the start ramp. David set two second fastest stage times, one of which was only 0.4 seconds off fastest.
Next up was the Jim Clark Rally, the S2000Rs first time on asphalt. Before the event David had tuition from F1 racing driver trainer Rob Wilson to up his game on asphalt. Despite fuel problems over the weekend, David and Ieuan took second overall on the rally. With David’s brother Mark winning, it was a Higgins family one-two on the podium.
The boys faced a race against time to get back from competing in China on time to get to Rally Isle of Man for the recce, but they made it.
When things worked well with the Toyota on the Manx island the crew stormed through the stages to set three fastest stage times, but unfortunately it didn’t last. The crew suffered tyre problems, and the car constantly overheated meaning David and Ieuan had to keep topping it up with water throughout the event. After 19 stages, with only 3 left to go, the car cried enough and the crew had to finish under superally rules. They were lying third in the BRC points when they retired.
Over the water to Ulster next and what was to become the last event for the troubled Toyota. Once again the crew were forced to use superally regulations to finish after the car cut out in the eighth stage and a mechanic had to come out to re-start the car. The decision to withdraw the car from the British championship was announced by RED two days later.
David said he was looking forward to the last few events to finish the season on a high, and he did. For Trackrod Rally Yorkshire and Rally GB they competed in the Autotek-run Subaru Impreza which Nasser Al-Attiyah used in the PWRC in Greece this year.
They finished third on the Pickering-based event, despite a horrific incident which nobody could have predicted. As David and Ieuan drove over a blind crest in what was a closed road and live rally stage, they saw a digger coming towards them on the road. The spikes on the digger were lowered to windscreen height and it was lucky it happened to such a professional driver. David was somehow able to steer the car through a tiny gap between the digger and the hedge to keep going without anyone getting hurt. Understandably the event made David nervous on future blind crests, so taking third was an amazing feat.
The BRC finale was a double header round on Britain’s WRC event, Rally GB. The TQ.com crew returned to the Autotek Subaru. This time there was more in mind than the BRC, the crew had registered for Production World Rally Championship points as well by buying Nial McShea’s PWRC entry for the event.
During the weekend they took fourth and third in the two BRC events, and sixth in the PWRC.
The British result left David sixth in the drivers championship, and Ieuan fifth in the co-drivers championship.
With all the trials of Super 2000 going on in Britain, China could not have been more different. It really is as simple as saying – five events, they dominated them all to take maximum points.
The result made their WY rally team champions, but neither David nor Ieuan pick up a Chinese title because they are not Chinese.
On the first round in Shanghai they won by 18 seconds, on the second round, the Huairou Rally, they were fastest on every stage bar two, and on the Liupanshui Rally they won again.
Next was the Kaiyang Rally where they described the rally as their perfect run as they won both legs and the event, and finally to Longyou which was also a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
The WY rally team boss had asked David to hold back to ensure he won them the team’s title. But with competitors from all over the world there to contest the IRC David said holding back was his hardest job.
For the first time all year the crew’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 developed a misfire losing them time. Despite that and being told to hold back, they led the Chinese and IRC points by 44 seconds after the first leg. After that they never looked back to take their fifth consecutive Chinese win from five and seal the team’s title for WY.
The crew’s plans for 2008 have not yet been confirmed, but be sure they will be back for more, bigger and better than ever.
posted by David at
13:39
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