Tempest Rally day one summary

Higgins Lights Up The Tempest Rally

British Rally Championship contenders David Higgins and Austin MacHale put in a blistering performance as the South of England Tempest Rally got underway in Hampshire last night.

David Higgins.

Photo by Dave Dyer.

Title contenders David Higgins and Austin MacHale were in determined mood as they contested three night time stages, with Higgins finishing the day 13 seconds ahead of his rival and setting up a thrilling finale today.

"The stages were slippy but I'm not really feeling the pressure, just treating it as another rally,'' said Higgins.

The crews are set to tackle 15 high speed tests today as the rally, and the championship reaches its climax.

"We have had a cracking start to the event with the night time stages proving popular with the crews and spectators alike,'' said rally manager Barry Guess.

"Some drivers have lost time with a few problems, but everyone got through the evening stages and we now look forward to a tremendous fight before the finish back in Aldershot tonight.''

<pre> Leaderboard after Stage 3 1 Mark Higgins Brian Thomas Ford Focus WRC 0:10:21.6 2 David Higgins Daniel Barritt Hyundai Accent WRC 0:10:45.5 3 Austin MacHale Brian Murphy Ford Focus WRC 0:10:56.8 4 Matthew Wilson Scott Martin Ford Focus WRC 0:11:05.6 5 Simon Hughes Glen Patterson Subaru Impreza 0:11:34.5 6 Sebastian Ling James Phillips Mitsubishi Evo 8 0:11:35.7 7 Robert Swann Phillip Morgan Mitsubishi Evo 8 0:11:39.1 8 Guy Wilks Phil Pugh Suzuki Ignis S1600 0:11:41.0 9 Will Nicholls Nick Broom Subaru Impreza WRC 0:11:42.9 10 Dorian Rees Patrick Walsh Subaru Impreza WRX 0:11:54.0

-www.tempestrally.com