Mark Higgins (born 21 May 1971) is a Manx

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

driver competing in the

British Rally Championship The British Rally Championship 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 2015, in ...

. His co-driver was Rory Kennedy.

Career

Higgins was born on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

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 road racing variant of motorsport with 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 f ...

helped by his mother and father. By the age of 17, Higgins had successfully competed in a range of motor sport activities such as trial bikes and karts. He impressed many people as a young man and soon attracted the attention of Manx businessman Roy Dixon who took the young Higgins under his wing, and at just 17 Higgins began his professional motorsport career with a trip to Sweden to learn from the legendary Finn

Timo Mäkinen Timo Mäkinen (18 March 1938 in Helsinki, Finland – 4 May 2017) was 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. Career Mäkinen's start in ...

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 Wo ...

. He has won the British Rally Championship three times, 1997, 2005, 2006.

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 or ...

's'' former Stig Ben Collins on various film and television sequences. Higgins was a stunt driver for the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

films ''

Quantum of Solace ''Quantum of Solace'' is a 2008 spy film and the twenty-second in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sequel to Casino Royale (2006 film), ''Casino Royale'' (2006). Directed by Marc Forst ...

'', ''

Skyfall ''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy 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, the villai ...

'' ''

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 writ ...

'' and ''

No Time to Die ''No Time to Die'' is a 2021 spy film and the twenty-fifth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, starring Daniel Craig in his fifth and final portrayal of fictional British MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Cary Jo ...

''. Higgins also appears as a stunt driver and on-camera in the fifth episode of

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

's ''

The Grand Tour ''The Grand Tour'' is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and Andy Wilman, made for Amazon exclusively for its online streaming service Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 Novembe ...

'', a spiritual successor to ''Top Gear''.

Personal life

Higgins lives in

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

, Mid-Wales, with his wife and two children. With his

brother A brother 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 familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

and father, he was also a partner in the family rally school located in

Carno Carno is a village in Powys, Wales. The community, which is also a parish in the historic county of Montgomeryshire, comprises the townships of Derlwyn, Llysyn, and Trowscoed. It is in the geographical centre of Wales. Geography The Afon Car ...

, near

Newtown, Powys Newtown ( cy, Y Drenewydd) is a town in Powys, Wales. It lies on the River Severn in the community of Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn, within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It was designated a new town in 1967 and saw population growt ...

Racing record

Complete WRC results

PWRC results

WRC-2 results

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

Supercar

References

External links

*
Stobart Motorsport

Profile on ewrc-results.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Mark 1971 births Living people Manx racing drivers People from Montgomeryshire British rally drivers World Rally Championship drivers World Rallycross Championship drivers British stunt performers Porsche Carrera Cup GB drivers British rally co-drivers