by Geoff Mayes
As the 2007 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship heads to Yorkshire for the penultimate round, the top of the leader board has a familiar name to it.
For the past two years Mark Higgins has headed to Pickering as the series leader and this year it’s no different. However, after taking into account dropped scores and the fact that Wales Rally GB counts for double points, no less than six drivers are still in with a shot at the title.
Mark Higgins’ closest rival in 2007 has been Mitsubishi works driver Guy Wilks, who trounced Higgins on the opening round, the Pirelli International. Since then improvements to Higgins TEG Sport Subaru have allowed the Manxman the opportunity to close the gap.
The second works Mitsubishi driver, Gwyndaf Evans, had a run of bad luck earlier in the year but after taking two podiums on the last two events the Welshman will be looking for another strong run.
2003 champion David Higgins changes from the Toyota S2000 to an Autotek run Subaru Impreza N12 and will be hoping to take the fight to his brother.
Another former champion returns to the BRC as well. Jonny Milner dropped out of the championship earlier in the year due to work commitments but returns for his home event, and could possibly take points away from the championship contenders.
Another returning driver is Ryan Champion, the 2006 Yorkshire Rally winner and should be a dark horse for overall honours.
The International Rally of Yorkshire is also the penultimate round of the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge and whilst the competitors of this fiercely competitive championship should be fighting with the BRC drivers, only series leader Phillip Morrow is registered for BRC points. Morrow has already scored podiums on both the
Jim Clark and the Ulster Rally and will be looking for another strong run this weekend.
