Despite facing adverse weather conditions and a mechanical failure Stevie Brown and co-driver Duncan Brown completed the second round of the County Saab Scottish Rally Championship, the Brick and Steel Border Counties Rally on the Scottish borders.

The Jedburgh based rally would see the MacKenzie Kilt hire supported crew use the event as a shakedown prior to the second round of the VK Fiesta Sporting Trophy later this month. “We managed to do this event as a few people funded the rally for us with the objective of getting to the finish to gain experience of the stages as they are very similar in nature to the Pirelli Rally, the second round of the Fiesta ST championship” explained the twenty-year-old driver.

Having successfully negotiated the first two stages of the day, the Five Mile Garage supported Fiesta crew were reduced to one wheel drive when the inner shaft on the gearbox broke. “We were on the exit of a chicane when the inner shaft snapped. We managed to lock the diff and drive through stage 3 and 4 with one wheel drive” said Stevie.

As the service team worked quickly at the twenty minute service halt they successfully managed to repair the car with only seconds to spare. Stage 5 would see the MSA British Rally Academy driver contend with a heavy snow storm and a heart stopping moment when the crew left the road loosing over forty seconds. “Visibility in that stage was very poor at times, especially as the stage was very fast in places” explained co-driver Duncan Brown at the end of the stage.

The Ellon based rally team completed the last stage problem free and returned to Jedburgh after a challenging event. “We came here to gain experience of the stages, not fight for the lead and we have achieved that objective. It was frustrating having the mechanical problems, but it was better happening on this event than on the Pirelli Rally in a fortnight’s time” reflected Stevie.

He continues “I cant thank the group of people enough who made this event happen for us, the experience it has given us of the dauntingly fast Keilder forests should make a real difference on the Pirelli Rally.”

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Web:    www.steviebrown.co.uk 

Scottish Rally Championship www.scottishrallychampionship.co.uk

Rally Academy Elite Scheme: www.msabritishrallyelite.co.uk/index.asp

Fiesta ST UK Championship: www.fiestasportingtrophy.co.uk