Network Q RAC Rally 23-25 November 1997

Mark Higgins is back on track to emulate his brilliant second place in  
the 2 litre class on last year's RAC Rally now he is into the rhythm 
of setting fastest F2 stage times and knocking on the door of the top 
positions in the class.

The 1997 British Champion started the day sixth in F2, 1 minute and 16 
seconds behind the car ahead in fifth, but that was soon overhauled 
once the adrenaline of the stages was pumping. The only major glitch 
was a broken driveshaft on the Pantperthog stage but Mark still set 
the second fastest time, just two seconds slower than Alister McRae.

An unfortunate stoke of luck came in the Sweet Lamb stage this evening 
when a car further up the field had an accident necessitating the test 
to be cancelled. This was a bitter blow as it was a long 18 mile stage 
where the team has been testing the Almera over considerable mileage, 
but the priority in this case is safety and it was for those reasons 
the stage was believed to have been cancelled. * However, some cars 
did get through the stage competitively but their times will remain 
provisional until a stewards meeting later this evening.*

Mark summed up the day whilst on his way back to Cheltenham, "We 
found out where the misfire was coming from yesterday, so with that 
sorted we could get a crack on to get the time back from when we sat 
on top of that straw bale at Donington... The Hafren stage was 
brilliant when we set the fastest 2 litre time and we'll be in the 
same form tomorrow when going back into Wales. It was a brilliant 
battle with Alister all along swopping times all the way through 
today. The tyres have been excellent today with no major problems on 
the stages proving that the hard work put in by Yokohama both here and 
in Japan is paying dividends. I'm sure we can be second in F2.

General Manager of Nissan Motorsports Europe "I think for the Almera 
to be as close as this in it's first ever competitive event is very, 
very impressive, particularly as we are up with the F2 World 
Champions, now being only 31 seconds behind them. This means that 
Rovanpera is well and truly in our clutches once morning comes. Mark 
has driven like a demon today reeling in nearly two minutes from his 
overnight sixth to  third in F2, and 38th overall to 14th overall. The 
other factor is that he 
has driven very cautiously over that last couple of stages as a finish 
for the car is obviously high on our list."

Class A5 leader Geoff Jones in the Micra Kit Car had an unfortunate 
day with a spin in Radnor that gave problems for the two Welshmen as 
they had trouble engaging reverse to get going again, only for the 
engine to expire on the next stage in Hafren. "I'm really disappointed 
- especially as I was treating these stages today as if they are my 
back garden, but that's the way it goes."

However, Nissan class honour is being upheld by the Japanese entry of 
Masahiro Takasaki and Hiroaki Hamada in the NME prepared Micra which 
has battled though the day to challenge for the class lead and is now 
within a handful of seconds of first place.

At the front of the field, Colin McRae has fought back after losing 
two minutes this morning in a ditch to come back to battle with 
Richard Burns for the rally win tomorrow afternoon.

Tomorrow holds a very tough day for the crews with another early start 
from Cheltenham to take them into South Wales for the first time since 
1985. Tomorrow's stage mileage will total more than the whole round of 
the British Championship which will force teams to dig deep into both 
their mental and physical resources. Desppite the fact that tomorrow 
includes the longest stage on the rally, the 28.6 miles in Resolfen, 
with Higgins, Mills and NME in fine form, Nissan are looking forward 
to a fine fight for F2 honours and a possible top ten position.

2 LITRE POSITIONS AFTER STAGE 18 OF 26    * Provisional results

1	A McRae/D Senior		VW Golf GTi		2:25:02	
2	H Rovanpera/Silander	SEAT Ibiza			2:27:08
3	M Higgins/P Mills		Nissan Almera GTi		2:27:39
4	R Head/B Thomas		Renault Megane		2:28:23
5	M Rowe/N Beech		Renault Megane		2:28:26
6	N Wearden/T Agnew	Honda Civic			2:33:57
7	P Svan/J Olsson		Opel Astra			2:34:42

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