David Higgins (born 14 November 1972 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 ...

) 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 Sport ...

driver. He is an 8-time Rally America champion and a 2-time

ARA ARA may refer to: Media and the arts * American-Romanian Academy of Arts and Sciences * '' Artistička Radna Akcija'', compilation album released in former Yugoslavia * Associate of the Royal Academy, denoting membership in the British Royal Aca ...

Champion with Subaru Motorsports USA.

Early and personal life

Born on the

but living in

Trefeglwys Trefeglwys is a village and community in Powys, Wales, within the historic county of Montgomeryshire. The name derives from the Welsh language ''tref'' 'township' and ''eglwys'' 'church'. The village sits on the Afon Trannon. There are many ...

near Llanidloes,

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

his brother

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

is also a rally and stunt driver. Higgins started

motorcycle trials Motorcycle trials, also known as observed trials, often called simply trial/s (with or without the plural "s"), is a non-speed event on specialized motorcycles. The sport is most popular in the United Kingdom and Spain, though there are participan ...

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

kart racing 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 fu ...

circuit, winning seven titles against drivers including later Formula 1 driver

David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...

. 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 brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

Challenge. Higgins won the 1997, 1999 and 2002

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, ins ...

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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

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 in ...

'' 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 S ...

. 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. 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 in the Rally America series as a replacement for

Travis Pastrana Travis Alan Pastrana (born October 8, 1983) is an American professional motorsports competitor and stunt performer who has won championships and X Games gold medals in several disciplines, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, a ...

. 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 the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934 ...

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 gene ...

, 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 501(c)(3) non-profit stage rallying sanctioning body in the United States. The organization sanctions the American Rally Association Presented by DirtFish National Championship. It is currently managed by th ...

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

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 British rally drivers Manx racing drivers World Rally Championship drivers Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers Global RallyCross Championship drivers