by Rob Wilkins
Mark Higgins' bid to win his third BRC title in a row - and his fourth in total, took a knock on the Rally Isle of Man last weekend, when he made a 'stupid mistake' and went off the road on the second day while running third in the BRC.
Higgins went into the third round in the 2007 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship, top in the drivers; standings, however he was unable to match the ‘works' Mitsubishi's of Guy Wilks and Gwyndaf Evans and while pushing to stay in touch, he made a crucial error in SS10, the 7.38 kilometre-run through Little London.
After having slid off into a ditch, the 2005 and 2006 winner was unable to re-join as there were not enough spectators around to help him get his Stobart-backed Subaru Impreza back onto the road.
As such he had to retire from the leg and although he did re-start under the SupeRally and eventually finished 34th overall - 18th of those registered to score BRC points – he could only manage to salvage a single point.
He now drops to third in the standings, three points off Guy Wilks and four off Wyn Humphreys, who currently leads.
Speaking at the finish though, Mark told
Manx Radio, that he was glad he was able to re-join the fold on the Saturday, if only for his home supporters: “I really enjoyed going through the Brandywell Classic stage again - that is a great stage,” he reflected. “It is fantastic and the organisers did well to get that running again after what happened with the [unexploded wartime] bomb on Friday. That was all a bit interesting.
“But at the end of the day Guy has driven very, very well here. He has had a very strong rally and we haven't been able to match his pace - or Gwyndaf's for that matter. We made a stupid mistake on Friday. I look forward to next year's event now and I will try and come back in a ‘big' car!”
