Rallycross: Brown continues Rallycross form at Lydden Hill

Steve Brown enjoyed the best result of his circuit racing career last weekend at Lydden Hill, by taking fifth spot in the Toyo Tyres British Rallycross Championship BMW MINI final on Sunday 21 April.

Brown took his Bellerby RX MINI to the impressive result, despite contesting only the second ever British Rallycross meeting of his career. Added to his opening round result at Silverstone in March, he now sits in sixth place in the hotly contested single make formula.

After spending much of his motorsport career contesting stage rallies, the Rochdale driver made the switch to the popular British Rallycross series in 2019 after getting a taste for the formula with a one-off outing. Thanks to the support of Lohen, Swift GO, Fuchs Lubricants and 710 Oils, Brown has embarked on a campaign to contest the eight-round series alongside Bellerby RX teammate Drew Bellerby.

Loss of power steering and engine power in the Silverstone final was not the ideal way to open his account but Brown was still able to collect valuable points for his season. He headed to the Kent based circuit with hopes of better fortunes and to gain more experience of the tracks and techniques.

Brown missed the pre-event practice session so launched straight into the qualifying session on Bank Holiday Monday. As he aimed to bed into the circuit, Brown endured some contact on the opening corner which hindered his progress, but he was still pleased to find himself fourth quickest from the 11 BMW MINI’s in the series.

Eager to maintain his momentum during the remainder of the day, Brown knuckled down through the remaining qualifying heats which proved to be a valuable move, as in the third and final qualifying session he set third fastest lap, meaning he started his semi final on the front row.

As his experience of the circuit grew, his form continued, and a good result in the semi final was vital if he was to make the most out of the final. The first race of the weekend saw a close battle for the top positions, but Brown secured an impressive second spot to go through to the final in a buoyant mood.

Predictably the final was an intense affair with each of the eleven MINI’s jostling for position. Due to a slow start, Brown was forced into taking his Joker Lap early and the subsequent traffic meant he lost a chunk of time to his rivals.

As the laps went by, he ran out of time to close the gap to the leading pack, taking the chequered flag in fifth with a valuable 21 points for his campaign.

Steve Brown said: “Whilst the final didn’t quite go my way I’m delighted with how this weekend has gone.

“If you look at each individual session, be it qualifying or the semi’s the pace is there and I seem to be really adapting to the car, circuits and change of the surface which I thought I’d struggle with to be honest.

“It’s still taking a bit of getting used to and there is plenty more to come as well, which is encouraging.

“I really need to get hooked up in the finals though,h and that’s what I must work on going into the next round.

“It’s always much busier in the finals, double the competitors really, and I have to work out what to do with that traffic, but I’m heading in the right direction and loving every second.”

There is now a break in the calendar before the Championship heads to South Wales and Pembrey in June.

Steve is sponsored by Lohen, Swift GO, 710 Oils, PIAA, Questmead, Yokohama and Fuchs Lubricants.