David Bogie is aiming to further tighten his grip on the MSA Scottish Rally Championship with a second successive victory on his home event this weekend.
He goes into the RSAC Scottish Rally next Saturday, June 25th, with an eleven point advantage over Euan Thorburn in the overall drivers’ standings, and is odds-on favourite to take his fourth SRC win of 2011.
Bogie and co-driver Kevin Rae head a strong field of more than 100 crews for the fifth round of the series, which will be played out over the classic forest stages to the east of Dumfries.
The defending champion will be back in his more familiar Mitsubishi Evo 9, after a dominant victory on the Jim Clark Reivers Rally at the wheel of his family’s MG Metro 6R4.
“We’ll be out to win the “Scottish” and take maximum points, that’s for sure”, said Bogie: “Obviously, when it’s your home event, it gives you an extra incentive. It’s been a dream first half of the season for us – but we need to keep up the momentum”.
Although his name does not appear in the seedings as published, Thorburn has submitted a late entry. The Duns driver, with Paul Beaton on the notes, has been runner-up to Bogie twice this season in his Mitsubishi Evo 9.
“We were happy enough with our second place on the Reivers, despite losing some time with the odd spin here and there. But David was in a class of his own, and we need to push and get another good result in Dumfries to stay in the hunt”, said Thorburn.
Mike Faulkner, who won the “Scottish” in 2009, and was second to Bogie on last year’s event, currently lies third in the championship, one point behind Thorburn.
The Kirtlebridge-based driver is determined to continue the good form alongside navigator Peter Foy.
“Obviously, David is dominating the sport at the moment, leading both the Scottish and British championships. However, he hasn’t won the SRC yet, so all we can do is try to put the pressure on him, and keep going until we can’t win it”.
“The pace in the Scottish championship is relentless this season. It’s not just the top two or three who are quick, the whole top ten has serious pace. It’s so close. There’s no easing yourself into an event – it’s absolute maximum attack from the word go”, said Faulkner.
Jock Armstrong bounced back from a disappointing couple of rounds to take a hard-earned third place on the Reivers in his Subaru Impreza, and currently sits sixth in the championship, forty-one points adrift of Bogie.
With navigator Kirsty Riddick, the Castle Douglas driver, will be aiming to make amends for a non-finish twelve months ago, following a mechanical glitch on the opening stage, but admits “he will need some luck” as the championship enters the second half of the season.
The Argyll crew of Shaun Sinclair and Chris Hamill return to the fray as fourth seeds in a Mitsubishi Evo 9. The pair finished seventh place overall on the “Scottish” in 2010, and Sinclair has only competed on one SRC round this year, the Granite City, when he also finished seventh overall.
Fifth seed David Wilson, co-driven by Dave Robson, survived a massive 100mph “off” on the Jim Clark Reivers in his Evo 9, but still managed to regroup and finish in the top 30.
The young Alness driver took the final podium spot on last year’s “Scottish” and was also third on the Granite City in April so will be pushing to go even better this time out.
Robbie Head has been “Mr Consistency” since returning to competition this season after a long lay-off, and currently sites fourth in the overall drivers’ standings, twenty points shy of Bogie.
The Lanark-based former works driver, co-driven by Claire Mole, opened his account with a seventh place finish on the Snowman, and has since had three sucessive fifth place finishes in his Station Garage/DMack Tyres Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9.
Lancastrian Wayne Sisson has only contested two SRC rounds this season in his Evo 9, the best of which was an eighth-place finish on the Granite City.
The Carnforth-based rally car preparation expert will have Andy Bull on the notes as he attempts to better his ninth overall on the “Scottish” twelve months ago.
Donnie Macdonald will be relieved to get back onto gravel after enduring a tough Reivers’ Rally in his Evo 9. Nevertheless, the Inverness driver finds himself fifth in the championship and has a good recent record on the “Scottish” – eighth last year, and ninth in 2009.
Stonehaven’s Barry Groundwater has two seventh-place points finishes and one tenth-place to his name this season. With Neil Shanks co-driving, he will be looking to repeat or better his fine fifth overall on the 2010 “Scottish”.
Rounding off the top ten seeds is former SRC front-runner Steven Clark, who is flying back from China where he has been working on an oil rig to compete on the “Scottish”. Dumfries-born Clark, who now lives in Wales, last contested his “home” event two years ago, finishing sixth in his Mitsubishi Evo 4.
Clark’s only outing last year was the Rally of Argyll when he took third overall. The car is the same – albeit with a bit more power since he last drove it – but he hopes to be at the sharp end this weekend.
“I don’t get into Manchester airport until Friday morning, so it’s going to be touch and go whether I make the pre-rally shakedown – which would help me settle back in”, said Clark, who will be co-driven by Louise Sutherland: “If I can adapt to a wee bit more power from the car, and if the first stage goes well, then I’ll be disappointed if we can’t be on a podium pace. Officially though, I fully expect to be rusty and I’m just going for a run out!”.
Banchory’s Quintin Milne, co-driven by Martin Forrest of Aberdeen, heads the Escort Mk2 contingent – Milne currently sitting second in Class 8. One to watch will be Thornhill’s Liam Harkness who has steered his Mk2 to second in the Junior rankings after four rounds, and leads the Red Junior Challenge. He will again be co-driven by Kenneth Marchbank.
After sitting out the Reivers, 2010 Scottish Junior Champion Peter Stewart and co-driver Phil Shortt (Ford Fiesta ST) will be back in action on their home event. They will aim to consolidate their overall lead in Class 7, with Stewart also topping the Clubmans 2-Wheel Drive rankings.
The fight for honours is just as intense for SRC-registered crews in Classes 1 to 5, who, as is traditional on the “Scottish”, will start behind the dozen or so Historic entries, and ahead of the 4-wheel drive competitors.
In Class 4, Thornhill’s Jim Robertson and George Myatt from Ae hold a slender two point advantage in the drivers’ and co-drivers’ standings over fellow Citreon C2R2 pairing of Gareth White (who also leads the SRC Juniors) and Mike Dickson. However, Paisley’s Alasdair S.Graham, with Kenny McGuire on the notes, is breathing down their necks, having won the class on the last two rounds in his Vauxhall Corsa, while the Honda Civic crew of Graeme Schoneville/Michael Hendry will also be aiming for a strong result as they push for both class and Brick & Steel Ecosse Challenge honours.
The husband and wife team of Tom and Sue Hynd (Peugeot 205 Gti) are breaking off from a holiday in France to compete on the “Scottish” in the hope of consolidating their lead in both the drivers’ and co-drivers’ standings in Class 3. However, they will face stiff competition from, among others, the second-placed crew of Iain Haining and Mairi Riddick, who chalked up three class wins in succession over the first three rounds, and will be out to impress in front of home support in their Vauxhall Nova.
In Class 2, the north-east of Scotland crew of Alex Pirie from Keith and David Law, have built up a commanding lead in their Vauxhall Corsa, but will continue to be pushed by second placed Tevor Longhurst from Thirsk, alongside Crieff’s Michael Cruickshank in an MG ZR. Local fans will be cheering on Penpont teenager Greg McKnight, who with dad Chris on the notes, took an impressive class win in his Vauxhall Nova on only his second rally, the Border Counties, back in March.
As well as being the fifth round of the SRC, the RSAC Scottish is also a counter in the Brick and Steel Ecosse Challenge; the Borders Rally and Five of Clubs Rally championships; and the Motoscope Northern Historic Rally Championship.
The “Scottish” also marks the return of the British Army Rally Team, who have had a long association with the event. They have entered six Landrovers, for what will be their first competitive outing in more than a year.
The first Historic will be flagged away from Dumfries town centre at 08h30 on Saturday, with the first 4-wheel drive at around 10h00.
Full details can be found at the event website www.scottishrally.co.uk.