• Higgins takes triple qualifying race wins and finishes second overall
• Albatec driver ends the day with the fastest outright lap at Pembrey
Pembrey, Wales (UK) — 24 June 2018: Albatec Racing and Mark Higgins finished second in round five of the Toyo Tires MSA British Rallycross Championship at Pembrey today after dominating the day’s qualifying races. The Manxman never put a wheel wrong, topping the times in practice, securing victory in all three qualifying races, and twice setting the race fastest lap, in his Eddie Stobart partnering NCME Peugeot 208 RX Supercar.
In the Final, the three-time British Rally Champion just lost out to Ollie O’Donovan at the start, and over the course of the six laps was unable to find a way past, crossing the line just adrift of the winner.
Saturday’s round four got off to an equally good start, with Mark posting the second fastest time in practice and he went on to record a hat-trick of second places in the three qualifying races. A small technical issue on his Peugeot thwarted his chances in the opening race, but a rapid two final laps saw him the only driver to dip under 44s, his 43.675s time on the final lap remaining the fastest of the weekend. In the second and third races poor visibility on a track renowned for its difficulty to pass cost him a shot at victory, but the results secured a front row start for the Final.
After a good start, contact with Julian Godfrey on lap one scuppered Mark’s hopes of a second outright BRX victory, and with it the opportunity to extend his series lead. After five rounds Higgins is now six points adrift of new leader O’Donovan with four rounds remaining.
Andy Scott, Team Principal, Albatec Racing:
“It’s great to see money invested in the new rallycross circuit at Pembrey. The first event has produced some really good racing and I’m sure that there are more improvements to come. Mark drove three stunning heats today, he was clearly the fastest on the circuit with some good tactical decisions. Unfortunately, in the final he didn’t get the perfect start and slotted into second at the first corner. He drove a faultless race but just couldn’t find a way past Ollie who drove a defensive race and made no mistakes. Saturday wasn’t the easiest of days for Albatec, we had a few small issues with the car which possibly compromised our speed a little and we had contact at the start of the final which resulted in a puncture. Overall we leave Wales positive as we once again demonstrated consistent pace and race-winning potential.”
Mark Higgins, Driver #34, Albatec Racing:
“I thought I had a good start in the final, but unfortunately Ollie’s was better. Once you get behind on this circuit, it’s very difficult to overtake. We had three great heats and all was looking good. There were a couple of opportunities to make a move, but after yesterday’s disappointments it was better to settle for some solid points. It’s very tight at the top now and we could really have done with a win after the DNF yesterday. The team have worked very hard this weekend and have given me a great car which can hopefully get us back on top for the next few rounds.”
Dr Mark Busfield, Director, National Centre for Motorsport Engineering:
“It’s been a weekend of two halves really. Today has been considerably calmer and it’s produced a very strong result across the whole day. There have been a few different challenges for the students. We had a few technical issues yesterday which they had to deal with, which they’ve obviously just picked up and dealt with. But it’s like everything, every time we have something new happen, a new set of circumstances for them to deal with they just get stuck in so they’re learning all the time and of course it’s in real-time which is good experience.”
