Back to China

David Higgins and Ieuan Thomas will make their return to the Chinese Rally Championship this weekend, as they continue their efforts to maintain the teams’ title for the WY rally team.

After taking a record breaking seven consecutive wins in the series, the duo were forced to sit out the last event because it was the same weekend as Trackrod Rally Yorkshire where they were fighting for the British Rally Championship title.

“Fumio Nutahara did the last event for the WY Rally team in our place so we could focus on the BRC,” said David. “We had taken a lot of wins, so he had a lot to live up to. Unfortunately though he lost time with a puncture, and then was forced to retire.”

Despite dominating the previous seven events, and being highly praised for his efforts in the country, David cannot become the Chinese rally champion because he is not from China. His aim in the championship is solely to help the WY Rally team maintain the teams’ title he won for them last year.

“With Fumio not taking any points for them on the Changbaishan Rally when we were in Yorkshire, the team’s championship is becoming harder to secure. But we have been highly successful on every outing in China for the last two years, so we do not expect the Longyou Rally this weekend to be any different.

“Longyou is a round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship too, so it will be great to get back rallying alongside the drivers from that championship again. Last year on the event we won top points in the Chinese championship, and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge which it was also part of. It was a great event for us.”

David and Ieuan will be joined on the event by Fiesta SportingTrophy regular James Everard, co-driven by Craig Drew. It will be Everard’s first time competing in China, as he takes the wheel of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 which has previously been driven by Nick Rowland this year while Rowland competes on the Tempest Rally in his Suzuki Swift.

“James is a good young talent who it’s nice to be able to present this opportunity to,” said David. “We tried to run him on the Ulster Rally this year but it didn’t work out, so it’s great to be able to take him to China. James is ready to take that step up into a Group N car, so this will be a fantastic experience for him.”

It will be a fast paced journey for Everard. Before he goes to China he will contest the Malton Forest Rally in his Fiesta ST on Sunday. By the time Everard arrives in China, Higgins will have already completed two days testing.

“James will be tired, but he’ll have time to join us for the recce and do all his preparations,” said David. “I’m going out a bit early this time to test my own car, and to do a test in a Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX to help us assess our plans for next year in the BRC.”

In terms of this year’s BRC, David has been awarded the PWRC wild card slot for Rally GB. This means David will benefit from a better road position as he is seeded amid the PWRC regulars, a benefit to his British Rally Championship fight. “The down side to that opportunity is that you cannot test in the country the event is in for 30 days before the rally,” said David. “But we have completed a lot of testing since the Trackrod so that’s not worrying us.”

The Longyou Rally takes place on November 8th and 9th.

Bulldog rally results

Hugh Evans and Iestyn Williams took 17th overall and 10th in Group N on the Bulldog Rally today. The duo entered the event in their TQ.com Subaru as a practice event for Rally GB.

Running with a heavy fuel load to simulate conditions they will face on the British WRC event, their Subaru Impreza N14 was also running on tyres which were more appropriate to Rally GB than the Bulldog.

David Higgins was helping to run the car in the service park as sporting director of FX Motor Sports. He said, "It was nice to be able to help out in the service park. Hugh and I are usually competing on the same events so I don't get a chance to get stuck in and work on his car during a rally."

Hugh's son Dylan's event did not go so well. His rally came to a premature end in the third stage of the clubman's event when he slid his Vauxhall Corsa into a ditch.

Read David's fifth column on crash.net

David's fifth column went online at crash.net today.

In it he talks about ripped muscles, Trackrod Rally Yorkshire, and heading into the final two rounds of the BRC competing against his brother Mark.

To read the column click here

As you'll also have noticed by now, the website's had a small facelift today with updated photos too!

Team TQ.com head to the Bulldog Rally

Team TQ.com boss Hugh Evans, and his co-driver Iestyn Williams, are heading to Oswestry this weekend to contest the Bulldog Rally in their Subuar Impreza N14.

The crew are seeded at number 23 on the event, which is primarily a round of the MSA Gravel Rally Championship. They will use the event as preparation for Wales Rally GB in December which hosts the final two rounds of the British Rally Championship.

David Higgins will spend a weekend in the service park for a change, running the car as Sporting Director of FX Motor Sports which runs the TQ.com fleet. Hugh, of course, is FX Motor Sports' principal and owner.

Running in the clubman field is Hugh's son Dylan, in his Vauxhall Corsa, co-driven by Paul Roberts. They are seeded at number 145.

The rally takes place on Saturday. To keep tabs on the main event's results click here, to see how Dylan is getting on in the clubman's rally, click here