Mark Higgins (born 21 May 1971) is a Manx rally driver competing in the British Rally Championship. His co-driver was Rory Kennedy.

Mark Higgins
Higgins with a Ford Focus RS WRC 04 at the 2005 Acropolis Rally
Personal information
NationalityIsle of Man Manx
United Kingdom British
Born (1971-05-21) 21 May 1971 (age 53)
World Rally Championship record
Active years1990–2008, 2013
Co-driverUnited Kingdom David Moreton
United Kingdom Cliff Simmons
United Kingdom Mike Corner
United Kingdom Phil Mills
United Kingdom Bryan Thomas
United Kingdom Michael Gibson
United Kingdom Daniel Barritt
United Kingdom Trevor Agnew
Republic of Ireland Rory Kennedy
United Kingdom Scott Martin
United Kingdom Carl Williamson
TeamsNissan, Volkswagen, Vauxhall, Ford, M-Sport, Stobart Motorsport
Rallies47
Championships0
Rally wins0
Podiums0
Stage wins1
Total points3
First rally1990 RAC Rally
Last rally2013 Wales Rally GB

Career

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Higgins was born on the Isle of Man on 21 May 1971. He began his career in motorsport at the age of nine when he took up karting helped by his mother and father.[1]

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 and Anders Kulläng.[citation needed]

He has won the British Rally Championship three times, 1997, 2005, 2006.[2]

In 2016, Higgins piloted a Subaru WRX-STI Time Attack car to a new lap record around the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course. His time of 17 minutes 35 seconds beat his previous record by nearly two minutes. [3]

Other work

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Higgins has worked for many years with Top Gear's former Stig Ben Collins on various film and television sequences. Higgins was a stunt driver for the James Bond films Quantum of Solace,[4] Skyfall[5] Spectre and No Time to Die.[6]

Higgins also appears as a stunt driver and on-camera in the fifth episode of Amazon's The Grand Tour.[citation needed]

Personal life

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Higgins lives in Powys, Mid-Wales, with his wife and two children.[5] With his brother and father, he was also a partner in the family rally school located in Carno, near Newtown, Powys.

Racing record

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Complete WRC results

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Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points
1990 Mark Higgins Suzuki Swift GTi MON POR KEN FRA GRE NZL ARG FIN AUS ITA CIV GBR
Ret
NC 0
1991 Mark Higgins Suzuki Swift GTi MON SWE
70
POR KEN FRA GRE NZL ARG FIN AUS ITA CIV ESP NC 0
Vauxhall Nova GBR
Ret
1993 Mark Higgins Vauxhall Astra GSI 16v MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRE ARG NZL FIN AUS ITA ESP GBR
19
NC 0
1994 Mark Higgins Honda Civic VTi MON POR KEN FRA GRE ARG NZL FIN ITA GBR
Ret
NC 0
1997 Nissan Motorsports Europe Nissan Micra Kit Car MON SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRE NZL FIN
Ret
IDN ITA AUS NC 0
Nissan Almera Kit Car GBR
Ret
1998 Nissan Motorsports Europe Nissan Almera Kit Car MON SWE KEN POR
Ret
ESP FRA ARG GRE
Ret
NZL FIN
15
ITA
18
AUS GBR
Ret
NC 0
1999 Volkswagen Motorsport UK Volkswagen Golf Kit Car MON SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRE NZL FIN
Ret
CHN ITA AUS
13
GBR
15
NC 0
2000 Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Astra Kit Car MON SWE KEN POR ESP ARG GRE NZL FIN CYP FRA ITA AUS GBR
32
NC 0
2001 Mark Higgins Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI MON SWE POR ESP ARG CYP
Ret
GRE KEN FIN NZL ITA FRA AUS NC 0
Ford Motor Co Ford Focus RS WRC 01 GBR
Ret
2002 Ford Motor Co Ford Focus RS WRC 02 MON SWE FRA ESP CYP ARG GRE KEN FIN GER ITA NZL AUS GBR
6
20th 1
2003 Mark Higgins Renault Clio S1600 MON SWE TUR NZL ARG GRE CYP GER FIN
Ret
AUS NC 0
Subaru Impreza WRX ITA
17
FRA
15
ESP GBR
2004 Mark Higgins Subaru Impreza WRX STi MON SWE
Ret
MEX
Ret
NZL
Ret
CYP GRE TUR ARG
Ret
FIN GER JPN ITA FRA
16
ESP AUS
Ret
NC 0
M-Sport Ford Focus RS WRC 01 GBR
16
2005 Mark Higgins Subaru Impreza WRX STi MON SWE
Ret
MEX NZL
Ret
CYP
Ret
TUR
44
ARG
EX
FIN GER JPN FRA ESP AUS
10
25th 1
Ford Focus RS WRC 04 ITA
10
GBR
8
Stobart VK Ford Rally Team GRE
Ret
2006 Mark Higgins Ford Focus RS WRC 04 MON SWE MEX ESP FRA ARG ITA GRE GER FIN JPN CYP TUR AUS NZL GBR
Ret
NC 0
2007 Mark Higgins Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX MON SWE
Ret
NOR MEX
10
POR ARG ITA GRE
18
FIN GER NZL ESP FRA JPN
19
IRE
Ret
GBR
16
NC 0
2008 Subaru Rally Team USA Subaru Impreza WRX STi MON SWE MEX ARG JOR ITA GRE TUR FIN GER NZL ESP FRA JPN GBR
Ret
NC 0
2013 Symtech Racing Ford Fiesta R5 MON SWE MEX POR ARG GRE ITA FIN GER AUS FRA ESP GBR
10
31st 1

PWRC results

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Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 PWRC Points
2004 Mark Higgins Subaru Impreza WRX STi SWE
Ret
MEX
Ret
NZL
Ret
ARG
Ret
GER FRA
4
AUS
Ret
16th 5
2005 Mark Higgins Subaru Impreza WRX STi SWE
Ret
NZL
Ret
CYP
Ret
TUR
13
ARG
EX
GBR JPN AUS
2
13th 8
2007 Mark Higgins Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX SWE
Ret
MEX
1
ARG GRE
4
NZL JPN
5
IRE
Ret
GBR
3
3rd 25
2008 Subaru Rally Team USA Subaru Impreza WRX STi SWE ARG GRE TUR FIN NZL JPN GBR
Ret
NC 0

WRC-2 results

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Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos. Points
2013 Symtech Racing Ford Fiesta R5 MON SWE MEX POR ARG GRE ITA FIN GER AUS FRA
ESP
GBR
3
23rd 15

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results

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(key)

Supercar

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Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 WRX Points
2018 Mark Higgins Peugeot 208 BAR POR BEL GBR
16
NOR SWE CAN FRA LAT USA GER RSA 26th 1
2019 Mark Higgins Peugeot 208 WRX UAE BAR BEL GBR
15
NOR SWE CAN FRA LAT RSA 29th 2

References

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  1. ^ "Mark Higgins". markhiggins.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 July 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2007.
  2. ^ "British Rally Championship". www.rallybrc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  3. ^ "Modified Subaru WRX STi sets new Isle of Man TT lap record". Auto Express. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  4. ^ Robin Turner (1 November 2008). "Rally driver Mark Higgins' in thrilling Bond scenes". Western Mail. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Skyfall: Stunt driver Mark Higgins' James Bond licence to thrill". BBC News. 30 October 2012.
  6. ^ "James Bond Spectre - exclusive interview with stunt driver Mark Higgins".
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by Autosport
National Rally Driver of the Year

1997
Succeeded by
Preceded by Autosport
National Rally Driver of the Year

2000
Succeeded by
Preceded by Autosport
National Rally Driver of the Year

2005–2007
Succeeded by
Oliver Turvey
(combined award)