Mark Higgins (born 21 May 1971) 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 competing in the
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 ...
. His co-driver was Rory Kennedy.
Career
Higgins was 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 ...
on 21 May 1971. He began his career in motorsport at the age of nine when he took up
karting
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 scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...
helped by his mother and father.
By the age of 17, Higgins had competed in a range of motor sport activities such as
trial bikes and karts. At 17 Higgins began his professional motorsport career with a trip to Sweden to learn from
Timo Mäkinen
Timo Mäkinen (18 March 1938 in Helsinki, Finland – 4 May 2017) was a Finnish race car driver and one of the original "Flying Finns" of motor rallying. He is best remembered for his hat-trick of wins in the RAC Rally and the 1000 Lakes Rally.
...
and
Anders Kulläng
Anders Göran Kulläng (23 September 1943 – 28 February 2012) was a Swedish rally and rallycross driver. His biggest success was to win the 1980 Swedish Rally.
Career
Kulläng began his rallying career in 1962. He competed in the first ever Wor ...
.
He has won the British Rally Championship three times, 1997, 2005, 2006.
In 2016, Higgins piloted a Subaru WRX-STI Time Attack car to a new lap record around the
Isle of Man TT Mountain Course
The Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or ''TT Course'' or ''Snaefell Mountain Course'' or ''Elmo’s Mountain Course'' is a street and public rural road circuit located in the Isle of Man, used for motorcycle racing. The motorcycle ''TT Course'' i ...
. His time of 17 minutes 35 seconds beat his previous record by nearly two minutes.
In 2024, Higgins competed in the British historic rally championship, driving a David Appleby Engineering TR7. Higgins placed second owing to a shoulder injury prior to the start of the last rally of the season.
Other work
Higgins has worked for many years with ''
Top Gear
Top Gear may refer to:
* "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission
Television
* ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme
* ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...
's'' former Stig
Ben Collins on various film and television sequences. Higgins was a stunt driver for the
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
films ''
Quantum of Solace
''Quantum of Solace'' is a 2008 spy thriller film and the twenty-second in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. Directed by Marc Forster and written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, Neal Purvis, Robe ...
'', ''
Skyfall
''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy thriller film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, ...
''
[ '']Spectre
Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to:
Religion and spirituality
* Vision (spirituality)
* Apparitional experience
* Ghost
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writt ...
'' and ''No Time to Die
''No Time to Die'' is a 2021 spy thriller film and the twenty-fifth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series, and the fifth and final to star Daniel Craig as fictional British MI6 agent Portrayal of James Bond in film, James Bon ...
''.Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
's ''The Grand Tour
''The Grand Tour'' is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, and Andy Wilman, for Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 November 2016. The programme was devised in the wake of the depar ...
''.
Personal life
Higgins lives in 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 ...
, Mid-Wales, with his wife and two children.brother
A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used ende ...
and father, he was also a partner in the family rally school located in Carno
Carno is a village and Community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales. It was also a parish in the historic county of Montgomeryshire, comprising the townships of Derlwyn, Llysyn and Trowscoed. It is in the geographical centre of Wales.
History
...
, near Newtown, Powys
Newtown () is a town in Powys, Wales. It lies on the River Severn in the community of Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It was designated a New towns movement, new town in ...
.
Racing record
Complete WRC results
PWRC results
WRC-2 results
Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results
( key)
Supercar
References
External links
*
Stobart Motorsport
Profile on ewrc-results.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Mark
1971 births
Living people
Manx racing drivers
People from Montgomeryshire
Sportspeople from Powys
World Rally Championship drivers
World Rallycross Championship drivers
British stunt performers
Porsche Carrera Cup GB drivers
British rally co-drivers
Welsh rally drivers