August 2009
Millers Oils backed rally driver Stevie Brown described last weekend's International Ulster Rally as the most difficult event of his career. The twenty-two-year-old driver crashed out of the opening test of the event on a section of stage covered in mud, later re-joining the rally under Super Rally.
The Five Mile Garage backed driver explained what happened. "Earlier cars had cut the corner and dragged a lot of mud onto the road. We slid wide on the mud and hit a bank, it wasn't a hard impact but it was enough to bend the suspension forcing us to stop in the stage, it was probably the slowest accident I've ever had."
The Neil Philip Bodyshop sponsored team worked quickly to repair the damaged Ford Fiesta ST, allowing Stevie and co-driver Andrew Roughead to continue the event under Super Rally.
Starting the second leg of the event at 7:15am allowed little time for rest, and with over 100 miles of demanding fast bumpy Irish tarmac stages ahead of the crews in the penultimate round of both the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy, and the British Rally Championship it would push teams to the limits both physically and mentally.
By mid-afternoon the event was living up to its formidable reputation with many of the top crews having crashed out. "We're just pacing ourselves now, we've got nothing to gain from taking risks, it's more important that we get the car to the finish" explained Stevie.
With the final loop of stages remaining rain posed a real threat, making the fast technical stages treacherously slippy. With just one stage to go the rain began to fall. "We were at the start of the stage on slicks when it started raining which wasn't exactly ideal" explained Stevie.
Having safely negotiated the slippery final stage, Stevie confessed it had been one of the most difficult events of his career. "For sure it's disappointing to have retired on the opening stage as we wanted to try and fight for a top three position on this rally."
Stevie continues, "Thanks to the team who repaired the car we were able to finish the event in Super Rally. For me it was difficult to get a good pace today as we had nothing to gain by driving flat out."
The Ulster International Rally may have provided a disappointing blow for Stevie and the team, but the young Scottish driver can still take positives away from the shores of the Emerald Isle. "We finished over nine minutes ahead of anyone in the Super Rally and banked championship points, which moves us up to fourth in the class championship."
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