David chews his way to the championship lead!
David Higgins has left the Jim Clark International Rally leading the British Rally Championship points, after he chewed a block of wood to fill a hole in his Subaru’s radiator to make sure they made it through the event.
The hole appeared after a run through the second Langton stage on Saturday, most likely caused when the Subaru Impreza N14 landed after a large jump.
“We lost all of the water out of the radiator,” said David. “But you’ve got to keep pushing, so we got to the start of the next stage, found a bit of wood and I chewed it to the right size to block the hole. We filled up the radiator, used a pair of gloves to keep the wood in place, cable tied them down and managed to get the car to service. In situations like that you just can’t give up.”
David and his co-driver Ieuan Thomas finished leg one on Saturday lying second overall behind David’s older brother Mark. They kept that position until the very last stage of the rally when gearbox problems allowed Stuart Jones to get past.
“We lost over a minute in the last stage,” said Manxman David. “After a good battle with Stuart throughout the day, that finally let him get past. It’s disappointing not to get second after lying second for so long during the event, but we took another podium finish for FX Motor Sports and we’ve taken the championship lead. The next round is Rally Isle of Man so it’s especially good to be going to my home event leading the championship points.”
David’s TQ.com team mates Hugh Evans and Iestyn Williams finished 13th in the BRC section of the event in their Subaru Impreza N14, taking another good set of points for the team. The result leaves team TQ.com second in the teams championship.
David and Ieuan had to make a quick exit from the finish ramp because they leave for China tomorrow morning to start their attack on the 2008 Chinese Rally Championship. Having become the first crew to win every round in one season last year, all eyes will be on them as they prepare for the Shanghai Rally this weekend.
“The stages don’t look very challenging in Shanghai, but that’s often the way if a rally is close to a big city in the Chinese championship,” said David. “But we can’t wait to get back onto the Chinese stages, and the rally is asphalt, so going straight there from the Jim Clark will be a benefit.”
The hole appeared after a run through the second Langton stage on Saturday, most likely caused when the Subaru Impreza N14 landed after a large jump.
“We lost all of the water out of the radiator,” said David. “But you’ve got to keep pushing, so we got to the start of the next stage, found a bit of wood and I chewed it to the right size to block the hole. We filled up the radiator, used a pair of gloves to keep the wood in place, cable tied them down and managed to get the car to service. In situations like that you just can’t give up.”
David and his co-driver Ieuan Thomas finished leg one on Saturday lying second overall behind David’s older brother Mark. They kept that position until the very last stage of the rally when gearbox problems allowed Stuart Jones to get past.
“We lost over a minute in the last stage,” said Manxman David. “After a good battle with Stuart throughout the day, that finally let him get past. It’s disappointing not to get second after lying second for so long during the event, but we took another podium finish for FX Motor Sports and we’ve taken the championship lead. The next round is Rally Isle of Man so it’s especially good to be going to my home event leading the championship points.”
David’s TQ.com team mates Hugh Evans and Iestyn Williams finished 13th in the BRC section of the event in their Subaru Impreza N14, taking another good set of points for the team. The result leaves team TQ.com second in the teams championship.
David and Ieuan had to make a quick exit from the finish ramp because they leave for China tomorrow morning to start their attack on the 2008 Chinese Rally Championship. Having become the first crew to win every round in one season last year, all eyes will be on them as they prepare for the Shanghai Rally this weekend.
“The stages don’t look very challenging in Shanghai, but that’s often the way if a rally is close to a big city in the Chinese championship,” said David. “But we can’t wait to get back onto the Chinese stages, and the rally is asphalt, so going straight there from the Jim Clark will be a benefit.”
posted by David at
22:18
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