KUMHO SCOTTISH RALLY

For the latest news, please look at the Rally Report Section of the web-site.
posted by David Higgins Sunday, September 16, 2001

Thursday, September 13, 2001

DAVID’S BIG CHANCE WITH VOLKSWAGEN

This weekend I will be in at the deep end driving the Volkswagen Racing Polo on the Scottish Rally. This has come as a result of their regular driver Neil Simpson breaking his arm in a testing accident.

I received the phone call late on Tuesday and although I was very disappointed to hear about Neil I would be lying if I said I wasn’t pleased to be given the chance, but I wish it was under different circumstances, as Neil is the last person you would wish this on.

Michael Gibson, Neil’s regular co-driver will be sat along side me for the event, and I am sure we will get along fine, as I have already done a recce with him a couple of years ago and this way at least one of us will have some experience of the car.

Unfortunately there probably won’t be an opportunity to drive the car prior to the first stage of the rally. Although this is not ideal it isn’t every day you get the chance to drive for such a good team, and I aim to learn the car, try my best to bring the car into the points.

I will have an in car camera on-board so no doubt you will see some T.V coverage of the event.
posted by David Higgins Thursday, September 13, 2001

Saturday, September 08, 2001

BARRETTS HAVE A RUSH-ON

Shortly along with Barretts Motorsport I will be facing one of my toughest challenges of the year.

The Team will contest two asphalt rallies in Russia in late September to try and help the Russian based Itera Team claim the Russian Rally Championship. Team Itera run Prodrive supported Impreza WRC cars.

I will be driving Barrett’s brand new Subaru Impreza V6 Group N Car and will be aiming for a strong finish on both the Novorsissk Rally (22-23 September) and Sochi Rally (29-30 September).

In order for the Itera Team’s leading driver to win the Championship they need to win both rallies and for me to come 2nd and force their main competition into 3rd place or lower. This will be a very difficult task but this is just the sort of challenge that I thrive on.

The Barretts Team will be consist of four of their own regular technicians and will be supported by members of the Itera Team and Prodrive themselves.

The events are both 2-day International Rallies based adjacent to the Black Sea and there is only going to be 5 days between them so this is certainly not going to be any sort of holiday for the team, despite daytime temperatures in the region of 30 C!

It’s going to be a great experience for the whole team, I am told the second event is going to be the most technical. The Sochi Rally is famous for early morning fog and damp mountain roads. However after our recent “test” on the Harry Flatters Rally on Epynt we have found some great tarmac settings for the car, so I am really looking forward to putting it to use under real pressure
.
I will be co-driven on the event by Calvin Cooledge, as Craig Thorley is unable to attend the events due to business commitments.

Getting the rally car to the Black Sea is a challenge in itself. Two Barretts technicians the van and trailer will start on an 8-day marathon road journey of some 3,500 km on Tuesday 11th September. The rest of the Team will fly via Moscow on 17th September.

Barretts’ Managing Director Paul Barrett is exited at the opportunity. “After a very frustrating season due to the cancellation of the BRC as a result of foot & mouth disease it is great to be rallying again. I am delighted that Prodrive believe that David and our team are the people for the job”

A Full Rally Report will follow on my return.
posted by David Higgins Saturday, September 08, 2001

Monday, August 06, 2001

FOR FULL RALLY REPORT OF THE HARRY FLATTERS RALLY, PLEASE LOOK AT THE RALLY REPORT SECTION OF THIS WEB-SITE.
posted by David Higgins Monday, August 06, 2001

Wednesday, August 01, 2001

HARRY FLATTERS HERE I COME!

This weekend I will be back behind the wheel of the Barretts Subaru Impreza, on the Harry Flatters rally over the Epynt stages, I haven’t driven competitively a great deal recently, so I am looking forward to getting back behind the wheel, on my first British outing this year in the new Group N 2001 spec Impreza.

The aim of the rally is to try and sort out the teething problems we experienced in France last month, and to try out some new diff settings before the Tour of Flanders in Belgium, in early September.

On Thursday I am due to have a brief test with Prodrive and Barretts to come up with some diff settings to try on the Rally. It will be my first time over the notorious Epynt stages but I am sure that with good pace notes Craig and I will be OK. It is also good to gain experience of this event, as it may be a round of the Formula Rally Championship, which I hope to be doing next year.
posted by David Higgins Wednesday, August 01, 2001

Sunday, July 08, 2001

FOR A FULL REPORT OF DAVID'S OUTING ON RALLY CHARLEMAGNE PLEASE LOOK AT THE "RALLY REPORT" SECTION
posted by David Higgins Sunday, July 08, 2001

Sunday, June 17, 2001

Higgins Joins R.E.D for formula Rally

After much talk I can confirm that I will be teaming up with R.E.D to take part in some of the remaining rounds of the Formula Rally series, at the moment the only event that is certain is the Barretts Kent Rally in October but there is also plans to do some of the earlier event possibly even the Swansea based event. After driving the Ford Puma on last years Grizedale stages I new that was the car to have, R.E.D were very keen to try and do something for the Kent Rally as I have a lot of Experience of the event winning it 3 times and retiring from last years event with an extensive lead. With the way the BRC is going this year I am delighted to get something sorted at last, after a couple of visits to the workshop you can soon realise that R.E.D are trying very hard to get back to where they were in the McRae days, every body there seems 100% dedicated to winning. I am very thankful to Pete for giving me this chance and I am looking forward to battling it out with Martin and Justin. Hopefully I will get to test the car soon, the whole programme has to work round the companies other commitments on the world championship.

I also plan to be take part in next year’s formula Rally Championship and this could be the start of a longer-term agreement.

Barretts Return At Last For Outing in France

Due to the lack of British Championship events, Barretts and myself have decided to compete in some European events, starting with Rallye Charlemagne in France which kicks off on Friday 6th July at 19.00hrs the second day starts at 10.00hrs and finishes 23.05 hrs. I will be competing in the event in the new Subaru Impreza, unfortunately there won’t be any time for testing so I will be in at the deep end, and will use the event as more of a test ready for further events later on in the year. I can at this stage also confirm that I will be competing in Rally Great Britain in the Barretts Subaru Impreza.

posted by David Higgins Sunday, June 17, 2001

Sunday, May 06, 2001

DAVID TAKES CELEBRITIES FOR A SPIN

This weekend will see rallying return to the UK for the first time since the outbreak of Foot and Mouth. The event takes place in EuroWirral and is the first round of the new Formula Rally Championship for 1600cc cars.

As I am committed to the British Rally Championship in the Barretts Subaru, I have been given the chance to do a course car to entertain spectators before the main action. I will be driving a Proton GTI and will be giving some celebrities such as Claire Sweeny from Brookside/Big Brother fame, and the well-known model Jordan a taste of rallying. It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it!

As some of the restrictions of Foot and Mouth have now been lifted it looks as though the British Rally Championship will start in July and finish in December, I am due to start testing the new car (Subaru Impreza) towards the end of the month, as the rallies will all be so close together the people who will do well will be the ones that are the best prepared.
posted by David Higgins Sunday, May 06, 2001

Sunday, April 15, 2001

BRITISH RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP DATE CHANGES 2001

The outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease has resulted in several postponements and cancellations of BRC events. The new provisional dates are as follows: -

Rally of Wales CANCELLED
Pirelli International Rally 21st-22nd July
Manx International Rally 2nd-4th August
Stena Line Ulster Rally 31st August-1st September
Kumho Tyres Scottish Rally 15th-16th September
Trackrod Rally Yorkshire 29th-30th September
Jim Clark Memorial Rally 7th-9th December
posted by David Higgins Sunday, April 15, 2001

Sunday, April 08, 2001

COPPA d’ORO INTERNATIONAL RALLY, ITALY, 7-8TH APRIL

This weekend Craig and I were competing in the Coppa d’Oro Rally in Italy, contrary to my last update the rally was on 7th & 8th April and not 8th & 9th April, apologies for the error.

The Rally consists of 86km of special stages and started with one short Super Special stage on Saturday evening, with most of the event running on Sunday.

We took an astonishing first overall on the opening Super Special stage beating the bigger Group A Four wheel drive cars by just one tenth of a second, and leading my class by 12 seconds at this stage.

However as the rally started proper this morning, a broken engine mount was making gear changes difficult and we lost over a minute over the next two stages, and were forced to retire when the steering broke on SS4.

The rally was very much a specialist rally, with stages being very twisty, and the longest straight being only 100 meters long. The event was also very bumpy, more like Ulster, but I settled in quite quickly, although it’s been so long since I put on a helmet, I’d almost forgotten what to do.

The team were very encouraged with the way the car performed, and are set to invite me back again to do another event soon.

posted by David Higgins Sunday, April 08, 2001

Tuesday, March 06, 2001

OUTING IN ITALY!

My self and Craig Thorley have at least got one event to look forward to as on April 8th and 9th we will be competing in Rally Coppa D’Oro in Italy in a Gima Autosport Saxo kit car. The deal came about when I was out in Italy doing 1-2-1 tuition the team asked if I would test the car, and after I had a brief go in it they asked if I would like to do Rally Coppa D’Oro. The way things are going at the moment with the postponement of the Rally of Wales, and potentially the Pirelli Rally at the end of April due to Foot & Mouth disease it could be the only rally I do for some time.

The event will be very difficult for us as the Italians like to practice the stages a lot, but it will be a good opportunity for us to learn the stages over there and it will also be good to keep driving F3 cars as I would very much like to so some World FIA F3 events this year. Watch this space!

The Rally starts with some super special stages on Saturday 8th April and then moves to the proper stages on Sunday 9th finishing again with another super special stage.
posted by David Higgins Tuesday, March 06, 2001

Wednesday, February 28, 2001

BACK TO BARRETTS

This season I will be back behind the wheel of a Barretts Motorsport prepared and run Subaru Impreza, built to the latest Group N specification, and I will be co-driven by the experienced Craig Thorley.

It looks like it is going to be a great year as although the car is group N specification I think with the new group N rules allowing the use of dog gear boxes and a few more changes the car feels much more like group A which should mean we are able to compete not just for group N honours but also able to challenge some of the World rally cars.

There will be lots of new things to get used to, with a new co-driver, although I am sure with Craig’s experience this shouldn’t take too long. We also have a new car and will also be reunited with Pirelli Tyres, which I am very much looking forward to, as they have been working very hard on development to keep them at the top.

The one thing that won’t be new to me is the Barretts team as I have been working with them since 1997 and have already won two British titles with them, including an overall rally win on the 1999 Rally of Wales.

Although I spent last year with Peugeot I still competed in three rallies with Barretts including Ypre, and Rally Finland. The team like myself are 100% committed to the sport and are only interested in winning or at least being able to challenge for a win. This makes my job a lot easier as I know 100% that when I get into the car it will be in the best possible condition for the event and I also know that nothing will be overlooked from pre-event logistics to even having shiny wheels and tyres for the finish ramp not to mention all the work during the events.

The team and I have recruited backing so far from Pirelli Tyres and Cobra Seats, and are still in negotiations with a number of other companies, for backing of our campaign.

We are all confident of getting back into the winning ways again.
posted by David Higgins Wednesday, February 28, 2001

Thursday, February 08, 2001

FEBRUARY

Look out for Away Days on HTV / ITV & the Border regions on February 8th 7.30pm, for a feature on me teaching Rupert Moon (Welsh Rugby Captain) to rally drive, at the families Forest Experience & Rally School.

On Monday I am heading off to Italy to do 1-2-1 Tuition in a Citroen Saxo Kit Car. I hope the gentleman I am teaching has better English that I have Italian!

More News Soon!
posted by David Higgins Thursday, February 08, 2001

Sunday, December 03, 2000

GRIZEDALE STAGES - 3RS OVERALL

For information on David & Chris's result look at the RALLY REPORT section.
posted by David Higgins Sunday, December 03, 2000

Tuesday, November 28, 2000

PUMA OUTING IN GRIZEDALE

This Weekend (3rd December) I will be competing on the Grizedale stages, in a Chris Birkbeck F2 Ford Puma 1600 car.

After my recent test at Boreham I have been very keen to try and do something with the car, and after speaking to Chris at the Network Q rally show we did the deal there and then. It will be very good to drive the car as it will be a great chance to see what the car is like on actual stages and I am also keen to see what the “Team Birkbeck F2” is like to work with, as it may possibly lead to something next season.

I will be co-driven on the event by Chris Wood, who was my co-driver in 1997 &1998.

It is the first time I have been in Grizedale since 1994, and it will also be my first map event for god knows how long! But Chris assures me that he is very good on the maps.

Prior to the rally we will have a short test on Thursday, which should give me a chance to get used to the car and also get to know some of the team.
posted by David Higgins Tuesday, November 28, 2000

Saturday, November 11, 2000

NO RALLY GREAT BRITAIN

Sadly I will not be competing in this years Rally of Great Britain, it will be the first time I haven’t competed on the rally since 1994.

I was scheduled to do the rally with Barretts in a WRC Impreza but there became a car supply problem at the last minute. We thought about doing the rally in the Group N Subaru, but as I am a seeded driver I would have to use controlled fuel, and there isn’t the correct mapping for the engine to use it. After the problem on Rally Finland with 2 blown Turbo’s and then a blown engine it became impossible to do the event.

The only good thing about missing the rally is that I now have a lot more time to work on getting the best drive for next season. At the moment I have some very exciting things going on and may be able to announce something very soon so, keep your eyes peeled on this page!

For Rally of Great Britain, I will be digging out my bobble hat and going out to support Richard & Robert all the way to their first World Championship?! And of course I will be supporting my brother Mark in the Vauxhall.

TESTING THE FORD PUMA

Last week I was invited to test the latest spec Ford Puma at Ford Racing head quarters at Boreham. It was one of there open days that they have been holding lately.

I have to say I was very impressed and even surprised at how good the car was. I always expect it to handle well but I was amazed how good the engine felt. The six speed sequential gear box really makes it easy to get the best out of the engine as gear changes can be made very quickly.

The engineers in Boreham have done a great job and they tell me the new rules for the 1600 championship will not make a lot of difference to the car if that’s the case this is going to be one of the cars to beat next season!

posted by David Higgins Saturday, November 11, 2000

Tuesday, October 10, 2000

posted by David Higgins Tuesday, October 10, 2000

DAVID RETIRE'S ON KENT RALLY

To find out the full story go to Rally Report page.
posted by David Higgins Tuesday, October 10, 2000

Saturday, September 30, 2000

IS FOUR IN A ROW POSSIBLE?

On Sunday October 8th I will again be competing in the Barretts Kent Forestry Stages trying once again to achieve my fourth out right win of the event. I will be competing in the event as usual in the Barretts Group N Subaru Impreza.

Last Year I had a fantastic battle along side Jonny Milner, and just pipped him to the post on the very last stage to make it three wins in a row.

This year I will be co-driven by Motoring News Editor David Evans.

Hope to see you there!

David
posted by David Higgins Saturday, September 30, 2000

Thursday, September 21, 2000

This page will contain the latest news.
posted by David Higgins Thursday, September 21, 2000