Rally GB: The BRC finale

Going into the final two rounds of the British Rally Championship, David Higgins still tops the points table, alongside his brother Mark – so it’s all to play for on Rally GB this weekend.

The three-day World Rally Championship event, counts for two rounds of the BRC. Friday is the penultimate round, with Saturday and Sunday’s stages combining to form the final round.

The pre-Rally GB points have only just been finalised after an MSA Court confirmed the results of Trackrod Rally Yorkshire last week. After the Yorkshire event was won by Guy Wilks, appeals were put in and he was excluded. Last week the MSA reinstated Guy as the event winner.

“We are disappointed with the result of the court case, but at the same time I’m glad it’s over and done with so we can get on with fighting for the title on the stages now like it should be,” said David. “That’s what we all want, instead of going to court to decide the result of the championship.

“The result of the MSA court means the fight for the British championship title on Rally GB is now a three-way fight between me, my brother Mark and Guy, instead of a two-way fight between me and Mark. That makes our chances stronger because three of us will all be fighting for the points.

"But regardless of who’s in the title fight, the main trouble makers for us in terms of BRC points will be Juho Hanninen, Patrik Flodin and Eyvind Brynildsen. While their main concern is the PWRC section of Rally GB, they are all registered for BRC points too and will be ahead of us on the road, so they will be in a great position to take potential points off me, Mark and Guy. With them in the mix, literally anything could happen this weekend.”

David and his co-driver Ieuan Thomas are also registered for PWRC points on Rally GB this weekend. Although getting a PWRC registration for the event means a better road position, it also means David has been unable to test in Britain for a month before the event.

“Not being able to test has been a concern, but we’ve put together so much data from previous events and tests with Tein and Prodrive that we should be ok, and no testing time means we’ve had more time to work in the workshops,” said David. “We’ve been working at replacing as many parts as possible, and we’re going to debut some new PIAA lights which should make us stronger in the dark than we were back on the Pirelli. And I can’t wait to get back on the mid Wales stages this year too. It’s been a long time since I was on them, and they’re some of the best stages in the world. But this year, more than ever, the Welsh weather could provide an extra hurdle for some people. Recently I’ve been driving to work on black ice and the car has been reading temperatures of around minus two, so that should be fun if it continues into next week.”

To keep up-to-date with David’s progress on Rally GB, keep an eye on this site. It will be updated throughout.

Interview with David on crash.net

You can read the interview here or listen to it via the link on their Rally UK page.

China: final update

After a succession of seven record breaking wins in the Chinese Rally Championship, David and Ieuan endured a difficult event on the Longyou Rally this weekend.

After overcoming suspension problems in the first two stages, they lost the use of their wipers during torrential rain in stage five. With the stages full of mud it was difficult to see further than 20km - but they still managed to lead the Chinese Rally Championship runners, and were lying third overall in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship event.

The car was fixed at service, but on the last stage of Saturday they went round a corner and got dragged into a ditch, then the car slipped down a hill. The crew had built up a 43 second lead when it happened.

Conditions in China were so bad that no cars could get to the stricken Mitsubishi to rescue it, leaving David and Ieuan stranded for six hours in heavy rain. In the end they had to walk approximately 8km out of the stage to get picked up.

Due to the amount of time taken to rescue the Mitsubishi, the crew were unable to re-start on Sunday.

Fiesta SportingTrophy regular James Everard made his Chinese Rally Championship debut on the Longyou Rally, co-driven by Craig Drew. They finished 12th.

China update: Friday, the super special

Reports are coming in from China that David and Ieuan have successfully completed the super special, and won their heat.

China blog: Wednesday / Thursday, recce

Just a quick update. The recce is going really well, although the stages are very touch because of all the heavy rain there has been out here.

Can't wait to get back onto the stages at rally speed now!

James is doing really well too.

David

China blog: Tuesday, the Evo X

We've had our first runs in the Evo X today. The engine is very strong, but the car feels quite big for the stages here. The team have decided not to run the car until next year.

Fiesta SportingTrophy driver James Everard has arrived with us. He's not had a chance to test yet, but is fitting in really well with the team and can't wait to get onto the stages.

David

China blog: Monday, testing

Although it's still very wet, we've had a really good test today.

The car feels great, although getting set up for the rally is difficult because the stages are so twisty. They can get very rough the second time through if it's wet.

David

China blog: Sunday, just like being at home

There's so much rain it's just like being at home today.

Sadly our test has been cancelled because of it.

David