One of Scotland’s most exciting sporting talents is preparing to compete against Europe’s best. Twenty one-year-old rally ace Stevie Brown and stand in co-driver Drew Sturrock will battle against the best asphalt drivers in Europe as they get in gear for the Ulster Rally, a round of the British and Irish Rally Championships on August 22nd and 23rd.

Stevie, who was awarded the Colin McRae tribute award ‘If in doubt…flat out’, says he is looking forward to a new challenge. “It’s something completely different for sure. It’s a difficult rally to make pacenotes for and drive on because the roads are so narrow, bumpy and fast, but if you want to keep developing as a driver you need to push yourself and compete with the best” explained Stevie.

Brown who forms part of the British Rally Academy scheme has had a challenging season so far with mechanical woes threatening to halt his progress. A win on the opening round of the VK Fiesta Sporting Trophy was followed by suspension failure on the Pirelli Rally and engine gremlins have plagued the leading Scottish crew, but Stevie says that it hasn’t put him off. “When your not getting the results you know you can get because of a mechanical problem its frustrating, but you just have to keep trying” admitted Stevie. The Speyside Rally proved Stevie’s never stop trying theory when he won his class, despite driving the car in ‘safe mode’ for most of the event. “When the car senses a problem it cuts the power, and limits the revs to 4 thousand” explained Stevie. He describes why it would have been all too easy to have given up. “When you have a problem like that it’s really disheartening, but we kept trying our best and had to try and carry what speed we did have around the corners”.  

Co-driver Drew Sturrock says he is looking forward to the Ulster event, “It’s been two years since I've sat with Stevie, and I'm looking forward to seeing how he has developed in that time.” Sturrock continues, “I've competed on two other Irish FST round this year, and I'm eagerly anticipating tackling the tricky stages around Armagh and seeing how our times compare with the regular tarmac competitors.”

As the Stevie Brown Motorsport Team prepare to board the ferry, they are hoping to gain experience of a new rally and drive to gain championship prize money on one of the most exciting asphalt rallies on the British Rally calendar.