Podium finish for David on the Longyou Rally

David Higgins has taken third place on the penultimate round of the Chinese Rally Championship, the Longyou Rally.

David and his co-driver Ieuan Thomas narrowly missed out on second place after suffering technical difficulties on their WY Rally Team Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9.

“The Longyou is a tough event but we had won it before in an Evo9, so we switched back back to it from the EvoX we had been using this year, to ensure we had the best chance possible,” said David. “But unfortunately the diff pump broke for the last two stages on Saturday.”

The breakage caused David to lose 40 seconds, after they had initially led the rally after the opening super special.

“We had also been given the wrong start time for one stage, which meant we ran further down the field than we should have and got caught behind some slower cars,” said David. “That, added with the damage, meant we lost out on second place to Patrik Sandell.”

David's brother Mark Higgins won the event, with Sandell 20.9 seconds behind and David missing out on second by only 4.9 seconds.

There is one round of the Chinese Rally Championship left this year in December.

Longyou Rally Update: End of Saturday

After the first full day of the event in China, David and Ieuan lie second on the Longyou Rally.

The crew had been leading the event until a problem with their start time meant they ended up running further back than planned. As a result they got stuck behind some cars and caught in dust on the final two stages of the day, losing around 50 seconds.

They now lie second, 40 seconds down on Mark Higgins.

More news at the end of the rally tomorrow.

David wins the super special at the Longyou Rally

After the super special stage of the Longyou Rally, David and Ieuan are at the top of the time sheets.

The rally continues tomorrow. More news then.