Podium finish for FX Motor Sports in Yorkshire

David Higgins overcame broken ribs and broken driveshafts to take a provisional second place finish on Trackrod Rally Yorkshire this weekend.

The results of the event will remain provisional for up to two weeks, while an appeal into the exclusion of Guy Wilks is investigated by the MSA. After Guy won the event and David finished third, the BRC released a statement saying Guy had been excluded after a protest was received before the results went final. This moved David up to second.

“At some points today we didn't think a podium finish would be in our reach at all,” said David. “We broke a driveshaft in the third stage of the rally, and after that we only had the ten minute remote service to work on the car. With that being so short and the service crew limited to two mechanics plus myself and Ieuan, we did not have time to do as much as we would have liked to to the car, so we drove the next three stages with the broken shaft.”

As David and Ieuan readied to return to the Pickering Showground for their main service of the day after driving those stages with the broken shaft, the FX Motor Sports crew were preparing to change the Subaru Impreza N14s gearbox when they arrived.

With David driving with a suspected broken rib, following an accident while sitting alongside a student at the family rally school, it was unusual to see him being forced to sit back in pain while the FX team performed a rapid gearbox change in front of a crowd of spectators.

“We have practised gearbox changes of course, but there's nothing quite like the team having to change the box under pressure during an event with everyone watching for the first time,” said David. “The team did a fantastic job. We went back out and everything was going well until the last stage when we broke another shaft. But we were still third fastest through the stage.”

David and Ieuan's team mates Hugh Evans and Iestyn Williams took a top ten finish in the BRC on what was only their second visit to the Trackrod, taking points for ninth place.

The overall championship points positions for the drivers and teams championships will not be confirmed by the BRC now until after the result of the MSA appeal is announced. Going into the event, David had led the championship points and TQ.com led the teams championship.

How to follow the team in Yorkshire

Well, the recce is over and the rally begins at 8am tomorrow.

If you're out on the stages this weekend, David and Ieuan are seeded at number 4 in their TQ.com Subaru Impreza N14, while Hugh and Iestyn are seeded at number 19.

If you're following the rally online at home, you can find the results here

The final stage is due to finish at approximately 5pm.

DH blog: Countdown to Trackrod, Thursday

"Shakedown went really well today, but my ribs are quite sore after it.

We're really looking forward to the rally now, but before that we need to make sure we work hard on the recce tomorrow to ensure we can go flat out from the start of the event on Saturday.

David"

DH blog: Countdown to Trackrod, Wednesday

"We're just doing final set-up work on all cars with tracking cambers etc, it takes a lot of time but needs to be spot on. We're also just making sure our reece cars are okay.

"I have Jon Buffum coming to see me today, he was a big part of my success in the USA so it will be great to catch up with him again. It's just a shame I dont feel up to a game of golf with him (because of my broken rib), we've had some mega games in the past!

David"

DH blog: Countdown to Trackrod, Tuesday

"The work on my car is going well. I'm confident we have improved the set up for the Trackrod, so I can't wait get there and get started.

I'm also feeling a bit better today which is great. I've broken my rib before and been able to drive competitively with it, so I'm not too worried about it hurting this weekend.

We'll be packing up soon to hit the road ahead of the recce. It's a big operation transferring most of the workshop to the FX Motor Sports trucks and making sure we don't leave anything crucial behind! Must go and write some lists...

David"

DH blog: Countdown to Trackrod, Monday

"With less than a week to go before Trackrod Rally Yorkshire, I find myself in a bit of pain.

When I was instructing at our Forest Experience Rally School on Saturday, someone rolled a car twice with me in it. I may have broken a rib, and I'm feeling very sore.

Our preparation is going well though. Hugh had a good test yesterday, and his car and Nick Rowland's car are ready. We're just doing the final set up on my car.

David"

Higgins heads to Yorkshire

Trackrod Rally Yorkshire may have a reputation for being one of the fastest rallies in the BRC, but David Higgins and his co-driver Ieuan Thomas are in the fortunate position of having it look slightly slower to them this year as they fight to maintain their championship points lead on the event.

“The rally we've just come back from in China was stopped because the average speeds were so high on the event so the Trackrod will look slow this year!” says David. “It's not often you go to Yorkshire and think it's slow because it's one of the fastest rallies we do every year because of the long straights.

“The speed of the event will mean the Mitsubishis will be hard to beat because of their strong engines, but we're not going there to finish second. Gravel is my favoured surface and we've just won an amazingly fast gravel rally in China, so we're in great shape for the Trackrod and we'll be going all out to maintain our championship lead. With only three rounds to go, we need to take good finishes and need to finish ahead of my brother Mark.”

David will spend a day testing his Subaru Impreza N14 before Trackrod Rally Yorkshire after doing extensive work on the car following a disappointing finish in Ulster where he took fifth. It was their first non podium finish of the year. “We thought we had gone forward a lot with the car for the Ulster, but we seemed to have gone backwards,” admits David. “But we've done a lot of work to the car since then so it's looking good for our return to BRC gravel.”

With the Chinese Rally Championship schedule being rearranged this year to run alongside the Olympic Games, the next round of that championship takes place on the same weekend as the Trackrod. Therefore David has been forced to put an end to his record run of consecutive wins in China by missing the next round in favour of the Yorkshire forests.

Trackrod Rally Yorkshire takes place on Saturday 27th September, based in Pickering Showground. David and Ieuan are seeded at number four on the event, while their team mates Hugh Evans and Iestyn Williams are seeded at number 19.

Seven in a row for Higgins in China

David Higgins and his co-driver Ieuan Thomas took their seventh consecutive win in the Chinese Rally Championship when they won the Mohe Rally this morning.

The duo won both legs of the event in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 to take another dominant win for the WY rally team, on a gravel rally which was so fast it was actually stopped.

“The rally was stopped early because we were hitting average speeds of 100mph,” said David. “It caught the organisers by surprise. It’s rare for that to happen in China as the stages are usually very twisty.”

The Manxman won every stage of the event except for the first one, his first stage on gravel since the Pirelli International Rally in April. “Doing such a fast gravel rally has been a huge bonus ahead of going to the Trackrod in a few weeks time,” said David.

But competing on the Trackrod for points in the British championship means David must miss the next round of the Chinese series, the Changbaishan Rally, which takes place on the same weekend. A replacement driver has not yet been named.

“The WY team will get someone else to drive for them on the event we are missing, but we don't know who yet ” said David. “With us having won the opening two rounds of this year’s season for them, they need to find a good replacement to keep their points scoring up on the Changbaishan. We would love to be there, but we have to make the BRC our priority.”

David and Ieuan will switch back to their TQ.com Subaru Impreza N14 for Trackrod Rally Yorkshire, which takes place on September 27.

Mohe Rally, final result

Staying true to form, David and Ieuan have taken yet another event win in China.

The crew won the Mohe Rally, which finished in the early hours of this morning UK time, to take their second consecutive win in the Chinese Rally Championship this year.

Mr Wei from the Chinese KST team finished second, with Tony Green third.

Mohe Rally update, end of day one

At the end of the first day of the Mohe Rally in China, David and Ieuan are leading the event.

The gravel stages are reported to be extremely fast, with an average speed of 155kph.

David and Ieuan lead by 2.48, with one of the local KST team drivers second and New Zealand's Tony Green third.

More news tomorrow....