Steven Smith, 21, from Stewartfield, was looking to repeat the success of his time at the Albar Kames Trophy Rally – where he finished in ninth place overall, and took maximum points – when he travelled to Elgin for the Speyside stages.

However, the mechanical engineering student ended up suspended over a river being held by only a couple of rocks.
He said: “While going along a particularly fast part of the stage, reaching speeds of close to 80 mph, my navigator Stuart Cant missed a corner in the pacenotes meaning that I struggled to get the car slowed for the tight left hand corner that was ahead.
“The car started to slide as I braked heavily and I managed to get the car facing around the corner but it was too late and we flew off the road hitting some large banks and the car ended up suspended in a river held by a few rocks.”
He added: “It took the recovery car more than an hour to pull the car out of the river and it now looks like it’s going to be a busy few weeks trying to fix the broken suspension part and damaged panels on the car.”
Steven is hoping his car will be ready for the Newton-Stewart-based Merrick rally on September 5.