David and Ieuan win on their Historics debut

David Higgins and Ieuan Thomas have taken victory in Category 2 on their debut in the Dunlop Gambia British Historic Rally Championship.

The crew led the Category from start to finish, in their Historic Rally Sport-prepared Ford Escort Mk1.

The result is made all the more impressive by the fact that David almost did not start the event after damaging his hand.

“I was at work doing some welding when a piece of metal pierced my hand two days before the rally,” said David. “Thankfully it did not go the whole way through, but most of the way, leaving my fingers swollen and hard to move. When I was sitting in Accident and Emergency, the possibility of even starting the rally seemed far fetched.”

Having competed with broken ribs and a broken wrist in the past, the damage to David's hand proved to be yet another injury which would not stop him driving on the stages.

“We decided to start the rally and see how it went,” said David. “The pain was excruciating but once I start a rally few things can stop me. We had to cut a finger off my glove so I could get it on over the swelling, but that was it.

“The Escort was faultless and fantastic to drive, and the atmosphere and competition in the Historics field was fantastic. Our only problem was that we found it hard getting used to using route notes rather than personalised pacenotes we had written ourselves during a recce. I think that contributed to our off in one of the stages where we got stuck in a ditch and lost around two minutes.

“But all in all, we've made a great move switching to this championship, and we can't wait to get out on the next round.”

The championship continues on the Pirelli Historic Rally on April 17/18.

Bulldog Update: Final result

After their fourth and final stage of the day, Dyfnant, provisional results show David and Ieuan as the winners of Category 2 on their Historics debut.

With David driving with a damaged hand, and the crew suffering from an off in their third stage, it's a great result. They have won Category 2 by 15.6 seconds, ahead of Rupert Lomax and David Alcock.

Full report from David later.

Bulldog Update: Big Ray shakes things up!

Although all of the results for the Big Ray 1 stage are not in yet, David and Ieuan are still shown to lead Category 2 by 4 seconds, despite going off in the stage.

Their Category rivals, David Stokes and Guy Weaver have retired in the stage, which has also put an end to David's former BRC rival Gwyndaf Evans' rally. Results report Evans, who was competing in another Category, as off in a ditch.

Bulldog Update: After three stages

David and Ieuan put in a storming performance in their second stage of the day, Gartheiniog 1, to push their lead up to 42.2 seconds over David Stokes and Guy Weaver.

However, the team have hit trouble in their third stage, Big Ray 1, where an off has resulted in them losing an estimated two minutes. They have cleared the stage, but it is not yet clear how this off will effect their placing in Category 2.

Bulldog Update: The boys start the rally!

David and Ieuan have started the Bulldog Historic Rally this morning.

Five cars in their category have completed the first stage so far and, despite the damage to his hand, David was fastest through the stage by 9.1 seconds.

Concerns over David starting the Bulldog tomorrow

There are concerns this morning that David and Ieuan may not get to start the Bulldog Historic Rally tomorrow.

The news follows an incident yesterday during which a piece of metal pierced through David's hand at work.

We will post more information when we get it.

Follow David and Ieuan's progress on their Historics debut

The preview for the opening round of this year's British Historic Rally Championship highlights David and Ieuan as a team who 'should really fly' in their Mark Solloway-prepared Escort in the Category 2 class for post historic cars.

The crew have had a successful pre-event test and are raring to get back on the stages on Saturday.

To follow their progress online click here

Leading off the Escort field, David and Ieuan are seeded at number 220.

See the Historic championship on Channel 5 this year

Organisers of the British Historic Rally Champioship have announced that AMG TV will film five gravel rounds and broadcast them on Channel 5 and the Motors TV channel.

Coverage starts with the Bulldog Rally, transmission times to be confirmed.

The switch to Historics begins!

David Higgins says one of his biggest challenges switching to the Dunlop Gambia British Historic Rally Championship this year will be to restrain himself from having too much fun.

As the 2004 British rally champion prepares to switch from a Subaru Impreza N14 to a Ford Escort Mk1 next week, the temptation to enjoy rear wheel drive action could prove too much.

“It would be easy to go sideways and really enjoy the car rather than thinking about the championship, in such a fun car,” said David. “If you go sideways you lose too much time, I need to remember that in the Mk1. The other main differences will be that I'll have to try to find more traction, the gear changes will be slower, and I won't have any power steering. I can't wait.”

David will test the Mark Solloway Historic Rally Sport Escort on Monday, less than a week before the championship starts on the Bulldog Historic. “I'll take one of our Forest Experience Rally School Escorts out for a blast around before the rally,” said David. “Then it will be straight into the rally, my co-driver Ieuan Thomas and I won't even get to do a recce because the Historics do not have a recce on gravel events. That could be a big problem for us as we are used to going over the stages and writing our own notes. Organisers notes are quite different to ours so we'll have to go through them thoroughly while we watch the DVD of the stages to make sure we get it exactly right.”

After a year running his own team in the British championship, David is looking forward to concentrating on the driving alone this year. “It was pretty hard to drive properly while running a team last year,” said David. “On the stages I would have been thinking about what the team needed to do in service, how long any damage was going to take to repair after the rally, that type of thing, but now I can concentrate solely on driving again.”

This will be David's Historic Rally Championship debut, and as always he is planning to give the regulars a run for their money on the stages. He said, “Any rally I enter, I aim to win, but I'm not thinking this is going to be any easier than the BRC. The pace I've built up in the BRC has got to help, but people like Gwyndaf [Evans] who is in the same boat as me switching from the BRC, and regulars will certainly be piling on the pressure. The entry is huge, and we can't wait to get started.”

The Bulldog Historic rally takes place in Llangollen in Wales on Saturday 28 March.

David's move to historics is confirmed!

The rumours are true - David has now confirmed his plans to contest the Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship this year.

He will contest six of the championship's eight events, behind the wheel of a Mark Solloway Historic Rallysport Ford Escort Mk1.

"The car looks fantastic and I can't wait to get started," said David. "I'm not thinking things are going to be easier for me in Historics, it's just as competitive as the BRC, just in different cars. Lots of drivers have made the switch from cars like the latest Subarus and Evos to Historics, and they're all always keen to talk about how much they love it.

"I've never driven a Mk1 in competition on gravel before," said David, referring to the opening round of the championship, the Bulldog Historic Rally on 28 March. "But I've done a lot of gravel mileage in one around the family rally school, so I'm not too worried. And Mark prepares a great car, so we know we'll be well equipped for the job."

Hugh Evans will also compete on the opening round of the championship, in a Solloway Ford EScort Mk2. David and his co-driver Ieuan Thomas, will be forced to miss the Severn Valley Stages in May and Tour of Flanders in September because both events clash with rounds of the Chinese Rally Championship which they will also contest this year.

David and Ieuan have proved a force to be reckoned with in the last two years of the championship, taking multiple event wins for the WY Rally Team in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9. This weekend they have returned to China for testing ahead of this year's championship, which begins with the Shanghai Rally in May.