7 times USA Rally Champion David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew gained positions as those in front suffered in the stormy conditions during the day Saturday. Massive amounts of rain, low hanging clouds, slippery mud, and standing water were the order of the day as remnants of hurricane Kate battered the Welsh countryside. Wales is used to heavy rain, however in this case they issued flood warnings and many outdoor events including a beloved rugby match were cancelled. Not Wales Rally GB though. The gravel roads in these Welsh forests are quite honestly some of the best maintained and oldest forest roads in the world, giving them such a hard base that apparently a hurricane isn’t enough to stop the rally.
Those that have the WRC+ App were given a treat today as Higgins and Drew appeared in their JRM built Subaru WRX STI on the Super Special Stage 13 “Chirk Castle” spectator stage live stream. It isn’t often that a team that competes in USA rallying is glimpsed on an international stage, and I was delighted that the coverage kept streaming long enough to show them.
Tonight the teams head into darkness after service where the wet and wild will continue. The Subaru Rally Team USA pair started the day in 26th and as others ran into issues they quietly climbed the ladder up to 22nd overall (edit: earlier wrc.com results showed them as 21st, now showing 22nd). We all know how experienced Higgins and Drew are in the dark, so I wouldn’t be surprised that even with the large gap in front of them that they climb up another spot or two if others have issues in the night stages.
