Mark Higgins was second in the Pirelli International Rally in Carlisle at the weekend.

The event was won by Guy Wilks and Phil Pugh, and it could easily have been a Mitsubishi one-two but Gwyndaf Evans and Huw Lewis’ fine run in second place was cut short on stage 12 with transmission failure.

Higgins and co-driver Rory Kennedy had an uncharacteristically slow start on Friday in their Subaru Impreza. Higgins got back on the pace but deemed it pointless to push hard when the gap was so great to the two Mitsubishis ahead.

Mark's brother David finished in 17th position after a disastrous start. His new Toyota got stuck in traffic en route to the start-line and he picked up a ten minute penalty. Then, on the third stage his battery died after he accidentally turned the heated screen on and ended Friday in last place. However, he worked his way back up the field after a better Saturday.