A DAREDEVIL driver was seeing off the ‘big boys’ on the Scottish racing circuit back in 2004...in a home-made car worth just £20,000.

Speedy Stuart Irvine was aiming for a place in the top 15 in the Scottish Rally Championship, even though he was racing against cars worth up to £400,000.

The dad-of-two had already made his mark at races in Aberdeen and Northern Ireland and was in 22nd place out of more than 100 cars.

Stuart was hoping to build on this success, although he feared his hopes had been dashed when his car suffered three punctures during a race in Dumfries.

The Bishopton garage owner had spent a year building his Subaru Impreza into a real mean machine, which he was racing at speeds of 120 miles per hour on off-road tracks.

The average price of cars racing on the Scottish circuit was £80,000 but Stuart was adamant that the driver was more important than the vehicle.

He said at the time: “Lots of people have a lot of money but might not be able to drive the cars as quickly.

“To drive well, you have to be a natural. You have to be able to know what the car is doing.

“I’m confident we can get up there and mix it with the big boys.”