David Higgins (born 14 November 1972) is a Manx

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...

driver. He is an eight-time

Rally America The Rally America National Championship was the national championship of rallying events in the United States. The inaugural season was in 2005. Rally America was also the name given to the organization that sanctioned the championship, was bri ...

champion and a two-time

ARA Ara may refer to: Biology * ''Ara'' (bird), a genus of parrots * Ara (fish) (''Niphon spinosus''), a species of fish * L-arabinose operon, also known as ara Places * Ara (mountain), a mountain in Armenia * Ara, Armenia, a village in Armenia ...

Champion with Subaru Motorsports USA.

Early and personal life

Born on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

but living in

Trefeglwys Trefeglwys is a village and Community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Montgomeryshire. The name derives from the Welsh language ''tref'' 'township' and ''eglwys'' 'church'. The vill ...

near

Llanidloes Llanidloes () is a town and community on the A470 and B4518 roads in Powys, within the historic county boundaries of Montgomeryshire (), Wales. The population in 2011 was 2,929, of whom 15% could speak Welsh. It is the third largest settleme ...

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

his brother

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

is also a rally and stunt driver. Higgins started

motorcycle trials Motorcycle trials, also known as observed trials, often called simply trial or trials, is a non-speed event on specialized motorcycles. The sport is most popular in the United Kingdom and Spain, though there are participants around the globe. Mo ...

aged 8, and aged 10 he moved into the UK national

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

circuit, winning seven titles against drivers including later

Formula 1 Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

driver

David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster from Scotland who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "DC", Coulthard was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' ...

. Higgins stills lives in Trefeglwys, with his wife and two children, Alicia and Matthew, both of whom are karting drivers.

Career

In 1993 he won his first rally car title, the

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

Challenge. Higgins won the 1997, 1999 and 2002

British Rally Championship The British Rally Championship (BRC) is a rallying series based in the United Kingdom. The first championship was run in 1958 and it has been licensed by the Motor Sports Association (MSA) since 1999. MSA has opted not to run the series in ...

s in the

Group N In relation to international motorsport governed by the FIA, Group N refers to regulations providing "standard" large-scale series production vehicles for competition. They are limited in terms of modifications permitted to the standard specifi ...

category. He then won the SCCA ProRally Championship in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2002 and 2003. ''

Grassroots Motorsports ''Grassroots Motorsports'' (GRM) is an American print and digital periodical devoted to hardcore sports cars, driving skill improvement, technical advice, and amateur motorsports such as road racing, autocross and rallying. It was established i ...

'' presented David Higgins with the Editors' Choice Award in 2003. In 2004 he returned to the British championship for what was supposed to be a one-off entry at the season opener in a

Hyundai Accent WRC The Hyundai Accent WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Hyundai Castrol World Rally Team by Motor Sport Developments to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based upon the Hyundai Accent road car, and was debuted at the 2000 Rally ...

. After winning the opening round he went on to complete the full season, winning the title. From 2004, Higgins spent his time rallying in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He began in 2004, competing in three events and winning two of them to help Ralliart Hong Kong to win the teams' title. He returned in 2006, beginning a long relationship with the Wanyu rally team. In 2007 he won every round in the championship and helped the team to win the title in both 2007 and 2009. In 2011 Higgins joined

Subaru Rally Team USA Subaru Motorsports USA (formerly known as Subaru Rally Team USA) is Subaru of America's motorsports arm that participates in events in the United States and its operations are managed by Vermont SportsCar, previously Prodrive. History The tea ...

in the

series as a replacement for

Travis Pastrana Travis Alan Pastrana (born October 8, 1983) is an American professional athlete known for his success across multiple disciplines, including freestyle motocross, rally racing, NASCAR, and stunt performance. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s ...

. He won the title at the first attempt with three wins from six events. That same year he also set the new record up

Mount Washington Mount Washington is an ultra-prominent mountain in the state of New Hampshire. It is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorio ...

in a

Subaru Impreza The is a compact car that has been manufactured by the Japanese automaker Subaru since 1992. It was introduced as a replacement for the Leone, with the predecessor's EA series engines replaced by the new EJ series. It is now in its sixth g ...

, faster than Pastrana's run up the mountain. Later, in 2014, he would beat his own record again with Co-Driver Craig Drew. He won the Rally America championship 8 times in 2002, 2003, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. He also won the

American Rally Association The American Rally Association is a stage rallying sanctioning body in the United States. The organization sanctions the Green APU National Rally Championship. It is a subsidiary of the United States Auto Club. The organization was founded by ...

National Championship in 2018 and 2019. Of those 10 championships, Higgins achieved 8 with

. During the running of the 2007 Rally of Yorkshire, Higgins came across a JCB digger/tractor coming towards him on the seven mile Gale Rigg stage. Luckily, Higgins was able to swerve and avoid the JCB, whose driver had managed to avoid rally officials and get onto the stage, driving in the reverse direction to the competing cars.

Racing record

Complete WRC results

Complete Global RallyCross Championship results

AWD

Supercar

Race cancelled.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, David Living people 1972 births People from Montgomeryshire Sportspeople from Powys Manx racing drivers World Rally Championship drivers Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers Global RallyCross Championship drivers Welsh rally drivers