Colin McRae tribute award winner Stevie Brown will be hoping to emulate his rallying hero on this weekend’s Colin McRae Stages, as he starts the rally on maximum attack in a bid to clinch class victory in both the VK Fiesta Sporting Trophy, and the final round of the County Saab Scottish Rally Championship.

Perth will be transformed into a rally Mecca from September 26th and 27th as rallying best gather to pay tribute to a true rally hero, and an inspiration to the world over. Six World Rally Champions will get back behind the wheel to tackle the event in a collection of exciting rear-wheel drive machinery.

Stevie, backed by the Five Mile Garage won the Colin McRae If in Doubt…flat out tribute award in last years Scottish Rally Championship, and was selected as the recipient of the award by a judging panel that worked with the 1995 World Champion most closely. Colin’s manager and close friend Campbell Roy explains why Stevie was selected for such a prestigious award. ‘When selecting the inaugural winner of this tribute award there was no shortage of worthy recipients, however what we were looking for was a young driver exhibiting natural ability, enthusiasm and competitive instinct, in other words traits that were characterised by Colin himself. Stevie fulfilled these criteria very well and we hope he will go on to prove us correct by making significant progress in the sport in the years to come’

While Stevie explains what winning the award means to him, and how it will affect the way he tackles this weekend’s event. “Colin was and still remains a huge inspiration to me, so to be compared to him is a true honour.”

The MSA British Rally Academy member continues, “for sure this weekend’s event will go down in the history books, as there has never before been such a collection of rally greats, but it won’t be affecting the way we go about the rally.”

At just over forty stage miles Stevie says that to win the penultimate round of the VK Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy, the Nicolson Maps backed team will have to be flat out from the start. “For sure we’re going to have to be on the pace right from the start if we want to win. The pace at the sharp end of the championship requires total commitment and taking some calculated risks” explained Stevie.

Fresh from an MSA British Rally Academy training day in which two times World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm, and World Rally Championship regular Matt Wilson was on hand to offer advice. Brown will be hoping to use some of the pointers he picked up from the sports best on this weekends rally. “Matt and I looked at my tarmac technique and I went for a few laps with Marcus in the Fiesta. It was a great opportunity and just being around people that have so much experience you learn things both in and out of the car” explained the Lesley Davidson backed driver.

As one of the most significant motorsport events in history is set into motion on Saturday morning, Stevie Brown and co-driver Ian Morrison will be driving for championship points, Scotland and a true hero. Colin McRae.