THE FINAL CHINESE CHALLENGE FOR DAVID HIGGINS

Posted: November 4, 2007 8:29 PM

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04/11/07
THE FINAL CHINESE CHALLENGE
After a three month break it’s back to China for David Higgins and Ieuan Thomas as they prepare for the final round of the Chinese Rally Championship, the Langyou Rally.

The rally takes place on November 9th-11th, and is also the final round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and the Asian Pacific Rally championship.

So far this year David and Ieuan have dominated the Chinese championship. They have won all four rounds in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 putting the WY Rally Team firmly at the top of the points table going into the championship finale.

“That’s a good thing and a bad thing going into this rally,” says David. “It’s great to be in such a dominant position, but it means we’ll have to hold back to ensure we keep things that way. Because the event is IRC and Asian Pacific too there will be a big international field there who it would be great to fight with, but the team boss is begging us not to go flat out to win every stage like we have done on previous events. We’ve worked all year to get to this position, so it would be stupid of us to get drawn into a fight now and lose WY their title.”

The only other team who have a chance of winning the title are the KST team, which is headed by David’s fellow Manxman Martin Rowe.

“If something happens to the KST team, then we can go flat out,” says David. “Aside from that we only need to finish inside the top ten for Chinese points. Holding back from trying to win every stage will be my hardest challenge of the weekend. I like to win.”

Last year David and Ieuan led the gravel event until their car suffered turbo problems.
While WY can pick up the team win, David cannot become Chinese rally champion because he is not from China.

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16/07/07
David Higgins and Ieuan Thomas have taken their third consecutive victory in the Chinese rally championship by winning the Liupanshui Rally in Chin.

The TQ backed duo enjoyed a thrilling battle with fellow Manxman Martin Rowe throughout the event in their WY rally team Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9.

“What a battle,” said David. “We had a few problems on the first leg and finished the day 4.3 seconds behind Martin. But things went better on the second leg and after eight stages Martin and I were tied on exactly the same time. We were fastest on the final two stages to win by two seconds.” There was no time for celebration however, as David and Ieuan now have to race back from China in time to continue their British Rally Championship bid in the TQ RED Toyota S2000R on Rally Isle of Man this weekend. They are seeded at number nine.

“It’s going to be manic, but it’s 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 David. “People expect me to know the stages well because I was born on the island, but I only did two rallies on the island when we lived there so it’s the round of the BRC I probably have least experience of. I’ve done well there in the past though and the car is performing well.”

David has spent two days testing the car on asphalt since the last round of the BRC, the Jim Clark International Rally. He will be aiming to build on the success he had there when he finished second in the BRC points.

The points haul moved David up to fourth overall in the BRC drivers championship, and left the TQ RED team second equal with Mitsubishi in the team’s championship. His team-mate Hugh Evans will join him on the island in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9, running as car number 45. The rally is a family affair for David - as well as competing against his brother Mark on Rally Isle of Man, David’s parents Tony and Christina and his cousin Andy Leece are on the entry list for the national section of the event.

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09/07/07
Higgins Back to Gravel in China
David Higgins is aiming to make it three in a row when he travels back to China this week for the latest round of the Chinese rally championship.

Having won the opening two rounds, the Shanghai Rally and the Huairou Rally in the WY rally team’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9, Higgins and co-driver Ieuan Thomas will contest the Liupanshui Rally on 14th/15th July.

“This is our third time on the Liupanshui Rally,” says David. “We won in 2004 and last year we were leading the event when we had problems with the engine overheating. The stages are twisty technical ones which I like so I’m looking forward to it.”

The TQ-backed crew’s priority for the year is their attack on the British Rally Championship in the TQ RED Toyota S2000R. The last rounds of both the BRC and the Chinese Rally Championship were on asphalt.

“This will be our first rally on gravel for a while,” says David. “We’ll have a gravel test when we get to China, but it would have been a bonus to be on asphalt because we will be going straight from China to more asphalt stages on Rally Isle of Man. One concern on this Chinese event is actually the high altitude the rally takes place in. You find the engine feels sluggish under those conditions, but it will be the same for everyone.”

The Liupanshui Rally takes place in the Guizhou province of China. It’s only three weeks since David and Ieuan returned from their last Chinese event.

“It’s been a busy time for myself and Ieuan,” says David. “But our partnership is working really well. Without Ieuan’s help with travel and organisation it would be impossible for me to contest so many events around the world this year.”

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20/06/07
Higgins takes second consecutive win in China
David and his co-driver Ieuan Thomas have now won both of the opening two rounds of this year’s Chinese Rally Championship. Although David cannot score overall points towards the driver’s title, he has put they WY team firmly at the top of the team points table.

“We were fastest on every stage except two,” said David. “Our Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 was faultless throughout the weekend. We were leading by 30 seconds after the first leg but I knew Jarko Miettinen was going to push us hard to get past on day two and the first stage would be the one he had beaten us on on leg one.

“We pushed hard but made sure we kept the Hankook tyres in good condition for the twisty stages. Then we found out that Jarko had had a big crash. We were 30 seconds faster than the next car so we just took an easy run to the end. We were still fastest on the stages though and won by two minutes and ten seconds.”

David would like to thank TQ Education and Training, Tein Suspension and Hankook Tyres.

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08/06/07
Higgins and Thomas head back to China
TQ driver David Higgins and his co-driver Ieuan Thomas are about to make the 5000 mile trip back to China for the second round of the Chinese Rally Championship, the Huairou Rally near Beijing on 16th/17th June.

David won the opening round of the championship, the Shanghai Rally in March.
Since then he has been driving the TQ RED Toyota S2000R on the British Rally Championship, but he is sure switching back to the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 he uses in China will not cause a problem.

“It will be a lot quieter in the Group N car, and different to drive, but I always watch a lot of in-car between rallies so it won’t be a problem,” said David. “It’s not the same as driving, but watching the in-car keeps you sharp and gets you looking at where you change gear and things like that in the Group N car.”

“This will be the first ever full asphalt rally in China. It’s based in Beijing but I’ve only ever done a gravel rally there before so it will all be new to us. We will get to do a two pass recce, but some drivers seem to do more than that because the rules are quite vague in China. I don’t think there’s any point in doing that though because you only kid yourself that you’re doing a good thing. On other championships you only get to do two passes, so it’s good practice to keep doing that.”

David and Ieuan will arrive in China on Monday and hope to fit in a day’s testing back behind the wheel of the Evo9 ahead of the recce.

Because David is British he cannot score drivers points in the championship, but can take points for the WY Rally Team in their battle for the teams title.

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27/03/07
David Higgins wins the Shanghai Rally
TQ driver David Higgins and his co-driver Ieuan Thomas got their 2007 season off to the best possible start by winning the Shanghai Rally in China last weekend.

The event is part of the Chinese Rally Championship which the duo will contest in a Mitsubishi Lancer E9 this year, alongside an assault on the British Rally Championship in their TQ RED Toyota.

After the first leg of the event Higgins and Thomas were second overall, just one second behind fellow Brit Martin Rowe, but on the second leg they took the lead and Martin fell down the order to finish fourth.

“Leg one went really well,” said David. “We only dropped to second behind Martin on the last loop of stages because we took the wrong tyre. But it was only one second so we didn’t worry.

“Leg two went like a dream. We had a plan, we stuck to it, and it was the perfect day with no problems. We backed off a bit on the last two stages, and won by 18 seconds. The Hankook tyres performed well under difficult conditions.”

Local Chinese driver Xu Lang finished the event in second place.

Because David is British he cannot score drivers points in the championship, but does take top points for the WY Rally Team in their battle for the teams title.

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25/02/1976
David Higgins returns to China
David Higgins returns to China next week to begin testing in preparation for the 2007 Chinese Rally Championship.

David is rejoining the WY Rally Team which he helped finish second and third in the team’s championship in China last year. He goes to China on Sunday to test their Mitsubishi Lancer E9 ahead of the season opener, the Shanghai Rally on 24/25 March.

“Shanghai is a mixed surface rally which is very difficult and has massive jumps,” says David. “I will be contacting Ken Block for some advice. I’ve helped him in the past so it’s his turn to give me some advice now!”

Ken Block recently set a record for the longest jump in a rally car after flying over 50 metres, and David has given him 1-2-1 rally driver training in the past.

“The British Rally Championship remains my main focus for the year,” says David. “But rallying in China offers me a chance to keep match fit between BRC events, and maintain my connections with Mitsubishi because WY is a Ralliart team.”

While David can help WY in the teams championship, as a British driver he cannot score points towards the driver’s title because it is only open to Chinese drivers.