Bond Stunt Star Heads for Hexham

The upcoming Kielder Forest Rally which runs on June 18th will see former triple British Rally Champion, Mark Higgins, make a welcome return to the Kielder Forest track, a terrain which he knows extremely well having competed in the area many times, most notably on the former Pirelli International Rally where he scored some notable successes, winning that event outright on two occasions and also notching up three runners up spots and two third place finishes as well. Higgins will be driving one of the exciting Bowler Defender machines, the vehicles which are modelled on the Dakar Rally Raid vehicles and which have their own dedicated 12 round series. Mark competed on the recent round, held in North Wales, where he took victory along with his co-driver, Claire Williams. The vehicles have also been used in the James Bond movies where Mark has done considerable work, he has appeared in some four of the action packed films including Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre and No Time To Die. In a star studded career, Mark has scored numerous victories around the globe including in China where he notched up several successes including on the Rally Sondhu, in Australia where he won the International Rally Queensland, in the United States where he won the Ojibwe Forest Rally and he was also on the top step of the podium on the International Rally of Turkey. The Kielder Forest Rally will feature some six stages, all in the giant Kielder Forest with the rally based at the Hexham Auction Mart which will also host the service area and media office.