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1600 Scottish Champion ready to kick start 2008 season |
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Wednesday, 09 January 2008 |
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 Stevie Brown, winner of the tribute award to 1995 World Rally Champion Colin McRae, will get the 2008 rally season in gear on January 26th on the Mull Forest Stages Rally. The twenty-year-old driver will tackle the event as a shakedown prior to undertaking the UK Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy Championship.
The Ellon based driver says the one make series will act as a stepping stone in becoming one step closer to the young driver's aim of driving in the World Rally Championship.
The 2007 season saw Brown compete in the Scottish Rally Championship at the wheel of his 1600 Vauxhall Nova, winning his class on his first assault of the series. "Last year was a big learning year for us, but we had reached the limits in the Nova and needed to make the next step up the ladder, and the Fiesta series offers that platform."
The 1600 Scottish Rally Champion continues, "The Fiesta Sporting Trophy is well recognised for nurturing young talent, and the end prize is usually a year contract with Fords Rallying division M-Sport."
 Throughout the 2007 season Stevie continually fought off more technically advanced machinery in his underpowered Vauxhall Nova, but in 2008 he says things will be very different. "The good thing about the Fiesta Sporting Trophy is that all the cars are the same, so it's down to how good the driver and co-driver work together in order to win events. With some of the UK's top rallying talent competing its not going to be easy."
The Mull Forest Stages will be the first time Brown has driven his Fiesta ST150, and will use the event to get used to the car ahead of the opening round of the championship, the Malcolm Wilson Rally in Cumbria. "I've never driven the car at full speed or on gravel and we're going to be competing against guys in the ST Trophy who have had a whole season under their belt, so we need to get as much time in the car as possible."
Ahead of the Malcolm Wilson Rally Stevie will also make a trip to the frozen lakes of Norway for a four day test session. "After winning the John Easson Scholarship part of the prize was to go to Norway. The organisers of the scholarship the 2300 Motor Club have worked hard to secure a weeks training at the world class John Haugland Rally School, so hopefully by the end of the week we should be more comfortable with the car" explained Stevie.
Duncan Brown will fly in from London to partner Stevie on the Mull Forest Stages, as one of the countries most promising talents sets his 2008 season in to motion.
Team Website www.steviebrown.co.uk
Fiesta Trophy Website www.fiestasportingtrophy.co.uk
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