Brown in seat swap to guide junior hopeful through debut rally

Steve Brown

Former multiple Formula 1000 champion and REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship contender Steve Brown will return to his roots this weekend as he contests the Keith Frecker Memorial J1000 Stages, but not as a driver.

The Nissan Micra ace from Rochdale heads to the Weeton event in a one-off outing as a co-driver for 16 year old Junior star Toby Marshall. The newly formed duo will contest the event in Marshall’s unique one litre Suzuki Swift.

Having progressed his own rallying career from the Formula 1000 Rally championship, Brown will return to the popular rally series for 14-17 year old drivers in a bid to guide the 16 year old around his first ever event. The youngster has spent the last four years racing in Autograss and after much success in his club championship, was looking to progress his career.

After contesting the Donnington Autotest Winter Series and finishing third, he will embark on his first competitive rally, enlisting the help of Brown to guide him around the Weeton Army Barrack based event.

Whilst the junior specification Swift may not be as rapid as the Micra Kit Car that Brown is used to, the day will provide a unique challenge for the Rochdale star. “I’m certainly not a co-driver,” confesses Brown.

“But having progressed from the junior championship myself I know how important it is to get experience at these events so I’m really happy to help Toby out this weekend. Of course, the main aim is to get to the end and if we pick up the pace as the event progresses then that’s a bonus. It should be great fun to be back in the series again and hopefully I can give Toby some driving assistance during the day too”.

The Keith Frecker Memorial J1000 Stages provides over 55 miles of competitive action at the Preston military venue spread across 12 action packed stages.

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