Brown heads back to Ireland in confident mood for class victory

Steve Brown

REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship class leader Steve Brown will aim to replicate his Emerald Isle victory of three years ago, as he heads to Ireland for the third round of the series, the ALMC Stages. Having scored a class win on the event back in 2012 in his old car, the Rochdale asphalt ace will aim to record another maximum points tally to further increase his lead of the ultra- competitive B9 class, this time in his newly built Nissan Micra Kit Car.

The 27-year-old has had an encouraging start to his 2015 assault on the national asphalt series, never outside of the podium in the first two rounds of season. Despite continually developing his unique Micra Kit Car, the car has a 100% finishing record and Brown now has the confidence to get the maximum from the 1400cc machine.

“We had a pretty steady start to the year as I really wasn’t sure what to expect from the car” says Brown. “We haven’t pushed its limits too much yet and still managed to score some decent results so now I’ve built up more confidence in the car, I think we can start to go that little bit quicker. The stages may not suit the Micra as well as I’d like as we will suffer from a lack of top end speed, so it will be down to me to get the maximum from the car where we can. I’ve not looked forward to a rally this much in ages”.

Joined once again by co-driver Paul Stringer, the duo will head to the Trim based event with a slender four point lead in the championship but will use their previous experience of the event to their advantage.

Dominating their class back in 2012 on the event, they are well aware of the challenges ahead across the closed public roads used on the event, some 40 miles North West of Dublin.

“It’s hard to beat closed road rallying in Ireland” says Brown. “But with 120 competitive stage miles crammed into just one day and nine stages, we really have to ensure every special test counts. A simple puncture can really affect the result here and you have to be on the ball from the very first stage. There isn’t a single stage under 11 miles so it really will be an endurance rally.

"The car stood up to the Manx really well and we have some base settings to work from for Ireland. It’s the halfway point of the season so we need a strong result here to carry momentum into the second half of the year”.

Brown is supported in 2015 by Questmead Ltd, Mintex, Fuchs Titan, PIAA, 710 oils, Power Maxed and SIX80 Limited.