DavidHigginsRally.com Press Releases

David extends his championship lead

2008-07-19T23:20:00.001+01:00

David Higgins has reinforced his British Rally Championship lead on home ground today after taking third place in the points on Rally Isle of Man.

As the crew continued to develop their Subaru Impreza N14 Manxman David, and co-driver Ieuan Thomas, had run as high up the rankings as second in the BRC points on leg two of the event.

“We spent a lot of the weekend working on suspension and changing things,” said David. “Having never been on the island in the car before we learned a lot and have left with great data for next year’s event which will also help us out a lot on the next round of the championship in Ulster.

“The conditions on the island were hard when it was wet, and it was disappointing not to have more speed to race Mark [Higgins] and Guy [Wilks], but we had good speed against the others. I don’t have a good finishing record on the event, so it’s always fantastic to finish there – and we still have the championship lead with four rounds to go.”

During the event the crew faced difficulties when they suffered problems jacking up the car to change a slow puncture, instead they were forced to drive three stages on the soft tyre. They finished over four minutes ahead of the next BRC finishing car of James Wozencroft.

David now leads the points table with 48 points, with his brother Mark second with 40 points. TQ.com team mates Hugh Evans and Iestyn Williams finished 11th in the BRC points on the event, leaving Hugh 12th in terms of the drivers’ championship.

The TQ.com team was the only one to get both cars to the finish without using superally rules, a credit to the work of Hugh's FX Motor Sports squad which is running cars for the first time in the BRC this year. David and Hugh’s finishes leave TQ.com second in the BRC teams’ championship, only five points behind TEG Sport.

The next round of the British Rally Championship is the asphalt Ulster International Rally which kicks off at the Armagh City Hotel in Northern Ireland on August 22nd.

Rally Isle of Man: final result

2008-07-19T17:30:00.004+01:00

After 23 stages, and three days, Rally Isle of Man has finished, with David and Ieuan taking third place in the fight for the British Rally Championship.

The result means David retains his lead at the top of the championship points table, with four more rounds to go.

Team mates Hugh Evans and Iestyn Williams finished 11th in the BRC fight in the sister FX Motor Sports Subaru Impreza N14.

It has been a fantastic result for FX Motor Sports in its first year in the BRC.

The rally was won by David's brother Mark, Guy Wilks finished second in the BRC points.

Rally Isle of Man: Saturday update, after SS19

2008-07-19T12:01:00.002+01:00

After 19 of the 23 stages, David and Ieuan have fallen back to third in the BRC points as they continue to develop the Subaru Impreza N14 on the event. Guy Wilks moved up to take second place in the British points on the first stage of the morning.

Going into service David said he was going to make several changes to the car before going out on the next loop of stages.

More news later.

Rally Isle of Man: Friday update

2008-07-18T23:13:00.002+01:00

David and Ieuan have finished the second day of Rally Isle of Man - said to be the longest day in British rallying - lying second in the British Rally Championship fight.

During the day the crew clipped a curb on a chicane, bending the steering arm, and suffered problems when jacking up the car to try to change a slow puncture. Unable to jack the car up properly, they were forced to drive three stages with the puncture.

Their TQ.com team mates Hugh Evans and Iestyn Williams finished the day 12th in the BRC points.

More news tomorrow.

Rally Isle of Man: Friday update, after SS12

2008-07-18T15:56:00.002+01:00

After 12 stages of Rally Isle of Man, David and Ieuan have moved up to second overall in the BRC points. David's brother Mark is leading the event.

More news later....

Rally Isle of Man: Thursday update

2008-07-17T23:32:00.003+01:00

After four stages of Rally Isle of Man, David and Ieuan lie third in the British Rally Championship points, behind David's brother Mark who leads the event, and Guy Wilks.

David reported a good night, during which he experimented with set up ahead of the two full days of rallying to come.

Their TQ.com team mates, Hugh Evans and Iestyn Williams, currently lie 15th in the BRC.

The action resumes tomorrow morning with the first car due on the Little London stage at 9.30am.

More news to follow tomorrow night. To keep up to date with the results until then visit the Rally Isle of Man website

Listen to Energy FM's rally reports featuring David

2008-07-17T19:48:00.000+01:00

The Rally Isle of Man website will feature Energy FM's rally reports throughout the weekend, with David interviewed frequently.

To listen click in the 'news' section of the site here

Shook down!

2008-07-16T21:38:00.002+01:00

David and Ieuan have completed the shakedown stage of Rally Isle of Man, and reported a good run with no problems. They now await the start of the rally tomorrow night.

There's no place like home

2008-07-14T21:42:00.000+01:00

David Higgins and Ieuan Thomas are heading to Rally Isle of Man as leaders of the British Rally Championship, and that’s exactly how they are planning to leave.

The TQ.com team crew took the lead of the championship after finishing third on the Jim Clark, the last time the BRC crews did battle. And since then, have worked further to improve their Subaru Impreza N14.

“We’ve done some more work on the suspension set up since Scotland,” said Higgins. “The main thing to keep in mind this year is that finishes will be key to maintaining the lead of the championship, so reliability to get to the end of the events will be key. There are a lot of good people to compete against for points, including my brother Mark, Guy Wilks, and Stuart Jones who pushed us so hard at the end of the Jim Clark.”

Rally Isle of Man is an event where the Higgins family always receive a special welcome, having been born on the island.

“It feels fantastic to be going to my home event leading the championship. Rally Isle of Man is one of my favourite events because it’s always great to rally back home on the island where there are lots of family and friends around,” said Higgins. “People expect me to know it well because I was born on the island, but I only did two rallies on the island when we lived there so it’s probably the round of the BRC I have least experience of. I’ve done well there in the past though.”

David and Ieuan will take part in a pre-event shakedown on the island on Wednesday, where they will be joined by their fellow TQ.com team mates Hugh Evans and Iestyn Williams. The two crews will carry out final testing in their sister FX Motor Sports-run Subaru Imprezas there, before the rally begins with the traditional run through Castletown on Thursday night.

Listen to interview with David on crash.net

2008-07-10T21:49:00.004+01:00

David has spoken to crash.net about his aims for Rally Isle of Man.

To listen to the interview, visit the 'Rally UK' section of crash.net

To read a transcript of the interview click here

David honoured in China

2008-06-01T22:37:00.002+01:00

:::STOP PRESS:::STOP PRESS:::

David has been given a non-motorsport award referred to as the 'Honour of China' at the award ceremony for the Shanghai Rally.

The award is in recognition of David having won every rally in the Chinese championship for over a year, and for the amount of charity work he does while in the country competing.

Earlier today David donated the money he won in Shanghai to the victims of the recent earthquake in China, and encouraged his team to wear armbands in memory of the victims during the event.

David wins in China!

2008-06-01T20:28:00.002+01:00

David Higgins and Ieuan Thomas have got their 2008 Chinese Rally Championship off to the best possible start by dominating the opening round this weekend, the Shanghai Rally.

With the Chinese earthquake disaster at the forefront of everyone’s minds, no celebratory champagne was sprayed on the finish ramp, and David has donated his prize money to the earthquake victims fund. David also encouraged his team to wear blue armbands in memory of the earthquake victims.

“What happened in China before we got there was horrific,” said David. “We felt a tribute had to be paid to the victims of such a random unpredictable event.”

During the rally, David and Ieuan won all of the stages bar one. “But it didn’t all go to plan,” said David. “Especially not when Ieuan and myself found ourselves pushing the car for a kilometre in 35 degree heat after we suffered transmission problems on the road back to service at one point. My legs certainly hurt the next day!”

Last year David and Ieuan won all of the Chinese events to win the teams title for the WY Rally Team. “Last year we were the first crew to win all of the events in one year, this year we hope to repeat that so winning in Shanghai takes us one step closer to that goal.”

Shanghai Rally: end of leg two

2008-06-01T10:47:00.003+01:00

Continuing their form from last year, David and Ieuan have dominated the Shanghai Rally this morning to win the opening round of the Chinese Rally Championship.

More news later...

Shanghai Rally: end of leg one

2008-05-31T02:29:00.002+01:00

David and Ieuan have got their 2008 Chinese Rally Championship campaign off to a great start on the Shanghai Rally. They lead overnight, having won every stage bar one today.

More news after the rally finishes tomorrow.

Read David's third column on crash.net

2008-05-28T22:25:00.002+01:00

David's third column for crash.net went online today

To read the column click here

Ken Leece

2008-05-26T21:14:00.000+01:00

David has been paying tribute to his grandfather, Ken Leece, who passed away today.
“It was my grandfather who got the family involved in motorsport,” said David. “On Sunday I took the lead in the British championship, my brother Mark won the rally, and Lewis Hamilton won the Grand Prix in Monaco – my grandfather would have been very proud of all of that. He always kept a keen eye on what was going on in the world of motorsport.”
Mr Leece actively encouraged David’s mother and father to participate in the sport, and then David and Mark when they followed in their footsteps.
With this in mind, David’s grandmother and the rest of his family have all encouraged him to continue with his plans to go to China today for the Shanghai Rally, because it is what his grandfather would have wanted.
Mr Leece will be sadly missed.

David chews his way to the championship lead!

2008-05-25T22:18:00.002+01:00

David Higgins has left the Jim Clark International Rally leading the British Rally Championship points, after he chewed a block of wood to fill a hole in his Subaru’s radiator to make sure they made it through the event.

The hole appeared after a run through the second Langton stage on Saturday, most likely caused when the Subaru Impreza N14 landed after a large jump.

“We lost all of the water out of the radiator,” said David. “But you’ve got to keep pushing, so we got to the start of the next stage, found a bit of wood and I chewed it to the right size to block the hole. We filled up the radiator, used a pair of gloves to keep the wood in place, cable tied them down and managed to get the car to service. In situations like that you just can’t give up.”

David and his co-driver Ieuan Thomas finished leg one on Saturday lying second overall behind David’s older brother Mark. They kept that position until the very last stage of the rally when gearbox problems allowed Stuart Jones to get past.

“We lost over a minute in the last stage,” said Manxman David. “After a good battle with Stuart throughout the day, that finally let him get past. It’s disappointing not to get second after lying second for so long during the event, but we took another podium finish for FX Motor Sports and we’ve taken the championship lead. The next round is Rally Isle of Man so it’s especially good to be going to my home event leading the championship points.”

David’s TQ.com team mates Hugh Evans and Iestyn Williams finished 13th in the BRC section of the event in their Subaru Impreza N14, taking another good set of points for the team. The result leaves team TQ.com second in the teams championship.

David and Ieuan had to make a quick exit from the finish ramp because they leave for China tomorrow morning to start their attack on the 2008 Chinese Rally Championship. Having become the first crew to win every round in one season last year, all eyes will be on them as they prepare for the Shanghai Rally this weekend.

“The stages don’t look very challenging in Shanghai, but that’s often the way if a rally is close to a big city in the Chinese championship,” said David. “But we can’t wait to get back onto the Chinese stages, and the rally is asphalt, so going straight there from the Jim Clark will be a benefit.”

Jim Clark International Rally: end of leg two

2008-05-25T16:57:00.003+01:00

David and Ieuan have finished the Jim Clark in third place in the British Rally Championship section of the event.

Having maintained second all day, they lost out to Stuart Jones in the final stage when they lost over a minute in the stage with gearbox problems.

Their TQ.com team mates Hugh and Iestyn finished 13th in the BRC points, taking another good points haul for the team.

More news tonight...

Jim Clark International Rally: end of leg one

2008-05-24T22:50:00.004+01:00

David Higgins and Ieuan Thomas have finished the first leg of the Jim Clark International Rally lying second overall in the British Rally Championship points.

While David felt the Subaru Impreza N14 was not handling well at the start of the event, it felt better as the day went on, although they feel there isn't enough power at times. They currently lie second behind David's older brother Mark, with Welshman Stuart Jones close behind in third.

There was drama in stage four when the crew stopped to help Guy Wilks and Phil Pugh extinguish a fire in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9. The fire ended Guy's rally.

And it was quick thinking that helped get the crew through the day after they got a hole in the radiator during a run through Langton. They got to the start of the next stage, where David chewed a piece of wood down to the right size to plug the hole, covered it with some gloves, cable tied it off and drove on. They're not sure how the hole happened, most likely when they landed after a jump.

Their TQ.com team mates Hugh Evans and Iestyn Williams currently lie 12th in the BRC points.

The action gets underway again tomorrow morning at 08.30. More news tomorrow night.

Ready for the start ramp

2008-05-23T13:36:00.002+01:00

With the recce of the Jim Clark rally complete, the FX Motor Sports crews are ready to go, and can be found in the following places in the international rally line up:

11 David Higgins/Ieuan Thomas Subaru Impreza
28 Hugh Evans/Iestyn Willians Subaru Impreza
56 Nick Rowland/Tim Sturla Suzuki Swift

More news when the rally gets under way.

FX Motor Sports prepare for Scotland

2008-05-19T19:47:00.000+01:00

The FX Motor Sports squad has made a successful start to their asphalt plans for their Subaru Impreza N14s in this year’s British Rally Championship with a day’s testing at Bala.

David Higgins and Nick Rowland took part in the test in preparation for an attack on the Jim Clark Rally on May 23-25, David in his Subaru Impreza N14 and Nick in his Suzuki Swift. With FX boss Hugh Evans unable to attend the test, David will apply the same improvements to his car as he does his own.

“The car was on the pace straight away and got better throughout the test,” said David. “It got easier to drive, and we did a lot of work to get unnecessary weight out of the car. Some things look great, but they’re heavy and not essential so they’ve gone.

“We made a lot of changes during the day, maybe ten spring options and many diff options. We need to get more throttle response, but we’re hoping Prodrive can help with that before the event. We left the test with a lot of data which we will use to develop the car further before the Jim Clark. We hope to have another test, but if that’s not possible we’ll have the pre-event shakedown.”

After Nick took second place on the opening round of the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup on the Pirelli International last month, David was further encouraged by the teenager’s first day out on asphalt.

“It was Nick’s first experience of asphalt,” said David. “A few big moments made him realise how serious it is, but he’s come a long way since his time in the F1000 championship last year. He just needs more confidence and commitment at a higher speed, more trust in his car, and he’ll keep getting podium finishes.”

TQ.com team driver David currently lies third in the BRC points, only four points behind leader Guy Wilks, with six rounds left in the season. TQ.com lie second in the teams championship.

Read David's second column on crash.net

2008-05-15T16:09:00.004+01:00

As you know, David is writing a column for crash.net this year as he takes on the British and Chinese rally championships.

David's latest column has gone online today.

To read the column click here

Double podium success for FX Motor Sports!

2008-04-19T20:51:00.003+01:00

The FX Motor Sports squad took two podium finishes on their British championship debut on the Pirelli International Rally in Carlisle today.

FX fielded three cars in the event: David Higgins and Ieuan Thomas, and Hugh Evans and Iestyn Williams drove sister Subaru Impreza N14s under the TQ.com team banner, while Nick Rowland and Tim Sturla competed in an FX-run Suzuki Swift in the new Swift Sport Cup. David finished third overall in the BRC points, while Nick took second place in the Swift series despite having to use superally rules after enduring problems on the opening Friday night stages.

“It’s a great start to the year for the team,” said David. “Everyone worked really well together and we’ve picked up good points in both the drivers and teams championships. Guy [Wilks] leads the championship with Juho [Hanninen] second in front of us, but Juho only plans to compete on Rally GB now so he won’t have many more points scoring opportunities. Nick’s taken great points too, and it’s just a shame Hugh had an off or he would have had a stronger result. He had a great rally otherwise.”

As FX’s Sporting Director, it had been a hectic run-up to the event for David as he and the team completed work on setting up their new workshops at the Higgins family Forest Experience Rally School in Carno, Wales, took delivery of the three cars and tested.

“It was a lot of hard work,” admitted David. “Things came together quite late, but we got all three cars ready on time including a chance to test and take part in the pre-event shakedown. It was important to get on the podium, because in the BRC you’ve got to be on the podium on every rally to have a chance of the title. We learned a lot more about the cars on the event too, so we can’t wait for the next round, the Jim Clark Rally.”

With the Jim Clark Rally being an asphalt event, the FX squad will now set to switching their three cars to asphalt spec in preparation for a pre-rally test session.

But before the Jim Clark, David will also travel to the RBS International Manx Rally where he will run a Ford Escort Mk2 on the event for his father Tony and mother Christina.

Shakedown starts the season

2008-04-17T19:20:00.005+01:00

All three cars run by FX Motor Sports have completed the shakedown stage of the Pirelli International Rally ahead of kick off in the centre of Carlisle tomorrow evening.

The shakedown took place in the southern part of Kielder forest called Shepherdshield which has been used by the rally in the past. David Higgins gave a passenger ride to local ITV sports presenter Graham Davies on the shakedown, so keep an eye out for the TQ.com squad on TV.

David and Ieuan Thomas head up the TQ.com team in their Subaru Impreza N14, seeded at number four. Their TQ.com team mates Hugh Evans and Iestyn Williams are running at number 19 in the sister Impreza. FX is also running teenager Nick Rowland, co-driven by Tim Sturla, in the new Suzuki Swift Cup, seeded at number 46.

David's Subaru breaks cover

2008-04-13T20:26:00.003+01:00

These are the first pictures of TQ.com driver David Higgins testing the team’s new Subaru Impreza N14 ahead of this year’s British Rally Championship.

The BRC kicks off with the Pirelli International Rally this weekend. Ahead of the fight, David has completed 70 miles of testing at the Higgins Forest Experience Rally School in Carno, Wales.

“Although the conditions weren’t ideal because of snow, we had a good run and learned a lot about the car,” said David. “It’s a lot different to the previous Subaru. It feels a bit more like a Mitsubishi in terms of set up, but that is a benefit to us because we compete in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 in the Chinese Rally Championship, and we won every round of it last year.”

The TQ.com team’s cars are being run by the newly formed FX Motor Sports this year. The impressive new company is run from new workshops at the rally school. David is FX’s Sporting Director, while his BRC team mate and sponsor Hugh Evans is FX Team Principal. The team will field two cars in the main BRC line-up again, as TQ boss Hugh continues to compete alongside David.

“We have the ability to do everything here,” said David from the workshop. “And it’s all done under our control, with a team of people we have put together ourselves who we really trust - that makes a big difference.

“My car’s now been wrapped with the livery we’ll use this year, and Hugh’s will be wrapped this week. Then ahead of the rally we’ve got a day’s testing for Hugh, and a day practicing changing parts for the FX team.”

David will continue to be co-driven by Ieuan Thomas again this year, while Hugh continues to be navigated by Iestyn Williams as they embark on their second year in the championship.

This year the BRC is hosting shakedown sessions ahead of each round. David will take part in that ahead of the rally start in the centre of Carlisle on Friday night.

Photos: Jon Mills