Ellon rally driver Stevie Brown remained uncertain if he would make it to the start of the third round of the VK Fiesta Sporting Trophy, the Severn Valley Rally (May 31) based in Bulith Wells.

The Five Mile Garage supported driver was still in recovery after a mountain bike accident, and had only been released from hospital two weeks before the start of the rally after an operation affecting the young drivers lower back. Brown had feared that he wouldn’t be fit in time to do the event putting a severe dent in his championship hopes. “I really wanted to do the rally as we already had one no score after crashing out of the Pirelli Rally. I was seeing doctors on a regular basis as they weren’t sure I would be in a position to start the event” explained Stevie.

Despite being in discomfort Brown remained silent in his bid to bag some vital championship points in order to remain in the title race. “Only a few members of the team knew I was still recovering as I thought I would be able to focus on the event better if everyone around me was treating me normally” said Brown.

Brown and Morrison put on a brave show, and although the Nicolson Maps crew weren’t on their round one winning pace they were still in a points winning position. The Colin McRae tribute award winner explains the day was harder than he first thought it would be. “I was fairly uncomfortable at times in the car, especially when my belts were tight, and it showed in our times. I kept making silly mistakes which was knocking my confidence.”

Brown continues, “It was really difficult to keep my concentration through the stages, meaning I wasn’t able to adapt to the wide gravel roads as well as I would normally.”

The Lesley Davidson Marketing supported team did however make it to the finish, collecting some well earned championship points. “I didn’t appreciate how hard today was going to be, so to get to the finish with some points at the end of a difficult day is fantastic” admitted Stevie.

The Ellon rally team achieved what they set out to do on their first trip to Wales. “We got the car back to the finish in one piece, and collected some championship points, as well as learning some new stages, and developed the car set up for this type of rally” commented Stevie.

Round four of the VK Fiesta Sporting Trophy will see the Stevie Brown Motorsport Team travel to Wales for the second time this season for the Swansea Bay Rally on July 19, where the team will be pushing for their second podium finish of the series.