12/06/2011 Scottish Rally Championship

Come on!

Hello and welcome to the 2011 MSA Scottish Rally Championships.

We're at the halfway stage, our foot's flat to the floor,

we're in top gear, and it's been super-fuelled action all the way.

So, can two-time defending champion David Bogie make it three in a row?

Or will the likes of Mike Faulkner, Jock Armstrong and David Wilson spoil the party?

And what about the chances of Robbie Head

making a welcome return to rallying after an absence of six years?

Only one way to find out. Let's take you back to the first event, the Arnold Clark Snowman Rally.

Timeline, February. Location, Inverness.

As ever for the first event of the season, the crowds were out

in force, and this year's contest was more significant than usual.

The Snowman had been the home event of

twice Scottish Rally champion Jimmy Girvan,

who was killed while competing in last year's McRae Forest stages.

20-odd years rallying, won the Scottish championship twice,

and it's just quite a poignant moment.

Jimmy's wasn't the only touching story at this year's Snowman.

Ken Wood, another former Scottish champion, lost his son Douglas to

cancer last year, and was paying tribute in his Dolomite Sprint.

My idea was that I would build it for him for the 2011 championship,

but before he went, he told us

I had to finish it, and I had to go rallying in it,

I had to paint it red, and I had to paint gold wheels on it.

So that's it - we're ready to go.

All the usual suspects were in the frame -

title holder David Bogie and close rival Jock Armstrong would be right up there.

It's nice to be starting the year as the reigning champion, so...

There's a good line-up today and it's going to be tough.

You've got the whole year to win a rally, but

you want to win this first one for sure, and it'll set you up.

My expectations? I want to be there, I want to win it.

I've just rolled into the car park now. Everybody's saying "You're late" -

I'm not late. Two minutes... I want to keep the momentum going today.

And there was real anticipation about the

reappearance of Robbie Head, who'd last competed in the Snowman in 1987.

I think it's a shot of adrenaline.

Rallying's a sport that's in your blood, and I think when that

"five, four, three, two, one" goes, there's nothing to beat it.

Three...two...one - go!

Remember, drivers get 30 points for a victory, 28 for second,

27 for third, 26 for fourth, and so on,

right down to one point for finishing in 29th spot.

In Strathrory, track-rusty Robbie Head and Claire Mole produced a very

creditable run in fifth place - just 24 seconds off the pace.

And Calum McKenzie, who's moved up from

his two-wheel drive Mark II Escort to a four-wheel drive EVO VIII

must have been happy with his performance in the unfamiliar car,

registering eighth on stage one.

I'm used to getting organised for the corner long before the corner.

Now you've got to go a lot deeper into the corner before you turn,

and put a bit of faith in the four wheel drive.

Euan Thorburn was another title contender, after having a go at the British Championship last year.

Driving an EVO IX, the youngster from Duns recorded

a time of 11 minutes and 35 seconds, good enough for third place overall.

Ahead of Thorburn by just two seconds, Jock Armstrong, with

Kirsty Riddick on the notes, was pushing hard in his Subaru Impreza.

But, out in front, just as he had been in most of last year's

championship, it was David Bogie and co-driver Kevin Rae in their EVO IX,

covering the stage in 11.28.05 clear of the field.

There was drama on one, as Nigel Feeney and navigator Ian Angell

were first to reach the EVO IX of Stuart Walker and Caroline Will.

It had caught fire near the stage finish.

Car's on fire, whoa, car's on fire!

He's on fire!

The safety crews put out the fire and no-one was hurt,

but the event was delayed for about half an hour.

It's a long left, tight - keep in...

Grip throughout the Snowman was inconsistent -

drivers found themselves confronted by snow, ice, mud and gravel.

Choice of tread was the main problem,

and Armstrong dropped seven seconds

by taking off the mud tyres for stage two.

After a poor first test, Lockerbie's Mike Faulkner and Peter Foy

were third fastest in Carbisdale,

which moved them up a place in the standings.

Bogie appeared to take his foot off the gas.

But Thorburn put his foot down and recorded the fastest time

to move into second place overall, six seconds behind Bogie.

Donnie Macdonald, from Inverness, was consolidating his position in

the top ten, with the sixth fastest time through Dalnessie

in his EVO IX.

Local driver Andy Horne was climbing steadily up the field,

his instantly recognisable Metro 6R4-based DAM giving spectators a real thrill.

But Thorburn was again quickest around Dalnessie,

with Bogie six seconds behind.

The two were now locked dead level at the top of the leaderboard.

Although Head and Mole were going backwards

and lay in seventh place after Dalchork,

there were still reasons to be cheerful for Robbie.

It was going really well, but then we had a puncture on stage three

so dropped a fair chunk of time about halfway through.

And then stage four, the rear brake pipe wore through

and we'd no rear brakes for about five miles,

so we dropped a heck of a lot of time - over a minute in that stage.

So we've battled our way down to seventh or something.

We'll have a good one in the last one!

Mike Faulkner was much happier with his performances in stages two to four.

Horrendous first stage - we had a spin on the first chicane and that just did our confidence.

It was really patchy ice, and trying to pick the grit

was really difficult, and we just couldn't get the confidence.

So not pleased with the time on stage one, but we've managed

some good time since then and up to fourth.

Despite some tyre problems, Jock Armstrong hadn't been out of the top three all day -

although his position after stage four did come as a bit of a revelation.

Quite surprised to be in third -

things just haven't went the way I wanted them to go.

The stages have actually been very muddy,

not as good as I thought - and gravelly as well.

Not as good as I wanted to be,

but hey, there's one stage left.

Armstrong would have to go some to catch Bogie and Thorburn.

The pair had been duelling back and forth, but on Dalchork

it was Bogie who re-asserted control,

taking 12 seconds out of his rival in just eight miles.

We had a massive jump on the second stage there so

possibly the downpipe could be squashed perhaps. The car does feel a little bit down on power.

But other than that, very, very good.

Good run on three, but we were running second on the road

on the fourth stage.

The start of the stage was fine and then it became

slippy a bit, so we lost,

I think, most of the time through that slippy part.

I don't know if it was better for the guys running further back.

But it is what it is, and there's 12 seconds between us.

A puncture or a spin or anything in the last stages

and it could all change, so still time to go yet.

Going into the final test, just over a minute separated

Donnie Macdonald in sixth from tenth-placed Stevie Brown.

So it was game on for the minor placings.

Robbie Head rolled back the years, coming on strong in the final test,

recording third quickest time - his best performance in the event.

There's so much information you have to log in.

You're not only looking at the road surface and driving 130 mph,

you're listening to the pacenotes,

and it took a bit longer than I expected to get back into that.

Everything was new. The whole package was new,

and it's got better all the time, all day, so...next time.

-Next time it'll be better.

-That old rally story - next time!

Closer to the top of the leaderboard,

all Jock Armstrong had to do was consolidate.

Third would guarantee him a podium finish

in the first rally of the year.

He was second fastest through Morangie, and did just that.

-OK...

-Well done.

That's sick, that.

That's sicker than ice and snow, Kirsty.

'Well done to David and Euan, the two young whippersnappers coming up'

so I'm the old man at the rear.

Never mind. At least I'm on the podium.

Euan Thorburn's day didn't end as he'd have wished...

He finished ten seconds adrift of Armstrong in the stage,

but it did confirm him in second overall.

The day belonged to David Bogie and Kevin Rae, who increased their lead

over Thorburn with their third fastest stage time of the day

which ensured a first Snowman victory for Bogie.

When we lost six seconds, I thought, time to up the game here.

Maybe just getting a wee bit lazy.

But we upped it for the last two stages, and it obviously came good.

Ken Wood and son Gordon put up a great showing in their

Dolomite Sprint, competing in the memory of Ken's other son Douglas.

After peaking at 33rd at the end of stage three,

the family duo just failed to make it to the finish line.

But it was a notable effort to start their championship campaign.

So after one round of the MSA Scottish Rally Championship

the leaderboard looks like this.

In fifth on 25 points, it's Andy Horne.

Mike Faulkner is lying fourth on 26 points.

Jock Armstrong is third with 27.

In second, it's Euan Thorburn on 28.

But, with an early lead, it's last year's champion David Bogie

with 30 points.

One of the great things about these SRC events is that you get to do some car-spotting.

There are some really impressive bits of kit around, just like this one.

One of the most striking, though, is a 1965 Ford Anglia owned by Euan Mackay, from Brora.

We're building up for this event.

First time on the gravel rear wheel drive, so

just have to see how it goes.

We've done a bit of testing, but just going to have to

play it by ear, kind of thing.

Pretty reliable... So it's a Vauxhall engine,

producing about 230 horsepower. Rear wheel drive,

so it's going to be a lot of power in a wee car. See how it goes.

The tenth anniversary running of the Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally

in the forests around Jedburgh was blessed with blue skies.

There was a new look to the event.

Drivers and crews faced only four stages -

but at over 17 miles, stage two Broomylinn was an absolute beast,

which would separate the wannabes from the winners.

The long stage allows you to get a bit more of a rhythm, and you have to...

maybe have a little bit more focus on making sure

your concentration stays up and the effort stays up.

That's about the only difference - it's just going to have to be 100%.

Reay Mackay had a hard act to follow, as he drove a famous Subaru Impreza back into the limelight.

It belonged to world rally champion Richard Burns, who died from cancer in 2005.

I don't think I'll drive it like it was driven before. The handling's superb.

It's much more stable at high speed, and just the cornering as well

so still getting used to it.

I think there'll be another few rallies before we get up to speed.

The Border Counties was the only rally in the Scottish championship

calendar to have evaded defending champion David Bogie.

And with a superb entry list, it was going to be tough for the Dumfries ace.

It's going to be a hard-chasing pack at the front certainly, so

leading them away, I'm just looking forward to it.

I've got new suspension in the car for today,

which might some getting used to.

Irish Group N regular Phillip Morrow hired an Escort Mark II

after his EVO IX developed engine problems before the event.

Even his skills couldn't stop Alness's David Wilson and co-driver

Dave Robson from almost catching him right at the end of the opening test.

Their time of seven minutes and 19 seconds left them seven seconds down

on Jock Armstrong and navigator Kirsty Riddick.

But they were soon out of the event with a broken gear stick - their second successive retirement.

Euan Thorburn and Paul Beaton finished stage one just six seconds off the pace in third spot.

With a charging Mike Faulkner and Peter Foy in second position.

However, the lure of winning his first Border Counties was a big incentive for Bogie,

as he finished Wauchope five seconds ahead of Faulkner in a time of 7.01.

All the crews were agreed the rally would be won or lost in Broomylinn.

It was narrow with lots of loose gravel,

so it certainly favoured the brave.

Inverness driver Andy Horne and navigator Jim Howie

hadn't had the best of times in Wauchope,

but they were flying through stage two

and pushed themselves up into fifth position.

We were trying to go a bit hard and it didn't work for us, so

with the long stage we tried just to take it consistently

and it seems to have paid off, we've come out with a fair time.

Wayne Sisson, from Carnforth, was also making a move in Broomylinn, taking fourth place overall.

We took time out of Andy on the long one, so...

the pace is fine I think, we'll just hopefully step it up a wee bit

once I've got more mileage under my belt again.

Thorburn and Beaton were disappointed to be only fourth fastest over the 17 miles,

and had to be content with maintaining their third place.

There's a line through it, and as soon as you get off the line onto the loose stuff

it obviously sends you sideways,

and it's just not the way I usually drive it.

I usually try and carry as much speed as I can, but you just can't

do it here, and we were losing out to the more powerful cars a bit.

Overall it never flowed really well,

so we'll try and get some back on the next two.

I don't think they're quite as loose, so hopefully it'll be in our favour.

It was left to Faulkner and Foy to mount the only

serious challenge to the leaders,

as they dropped just 11 seconds to stay in a strong second position.

With a few new faces in his service crew, everyone wanted to

make sure nothing was left to chance in the final two tests.

But it would be an uphill struggle to catch the defending Scottish champions.

Once again it was David Bogie who led the way, setting a benchmark time.

By the end of the test he was leading the field by 16 seconds, and looked unstoppable.

There was some movement in the field after Redesdale.

Cumbrian duo Paul Benn and Richard Cooke floored it

with the third fastest stage time,

elevating themselves into sixth overall.

The rally has painful memories for Mr Benn.

The last time we did the Borders was in '07,

and we had quite a bad accident,

so that's the only downside to us.

We love the event,

but obviously we've a little bit of thinking in our heads that

we need to be careful at the same time.

Bogie and Rae again recorded

the quickest time by far through stage three,

covering the 13 miles

in 13 minutes and 19 seconds.

So the fight was really about the also-rans.

Robbie Head, with Claire Mole navigating,

was justifying his decision to get back into competitive rallying.

They were lying fifth in their EVO IX.

Thorburn and Beaton had another poor run in three, only clocking the sixth fastest stage time,

but holding on to third position in the event.

Faulkner and Foy were the only realistic challengers to Bogie.

But they were 31 seconds adrift -

and although they were absolutely flying in Redesdale,

they'd need something to happen to the Dumfries driver

on the shortest stage of all to have any chance of a win.

Hyndlee proved to be the tightest test of the day.

Head and Mole tied with Benn and Cooke

in the fourth fastest time for the stage -

six minutes and five seconds.

Despite slipping further behind with a stage time of 6.09,

Thorburn and Beaton did enough to confirm a third place finish.

Yeah, third's better than what I expected.

Pretty bad day today, just never got into a rhythm.

Just didn't seem to work all day today.

Faulkner and Foy came third in the stage, but held onto second spot overall.

It was Bogie and Rae who again looked down on the rest of the field,

coming through Hyndlees quickest in six minutes exactly,

to book their second successive win of this year's championship.

Border Counties is a rally I've never won before, so

I was desperate to tick that box.

And with having the last seven Scottish Championship wins

that's the clean slate, the clean streak. So I'm happy.

As ever, the Border Counties threw up a couple of surprise packages,

the most impressive of which was Oban duo Stephen and Kevin Lockhart.

They confounded their 36th seeding, to place ninth overall in an EVO VII.

There was a splendid class two win for 17-year-old Greg McKnight from

Dumfries, competing in only his second rally in a Vauxhall Nova.

Let's look at the SRC Drivers' Championship after two events.

In fifth, it's Robbie Head on 48 points.

Andy Horne is fourth with 51.

It's Mike Faulkner on 54 points in third.

Euan Thorburn's second with 55 points.

But in the lead, it's David Bogie with a perfect 60 points.

What are the qualities required to be a successful rally crew?

Well, you have to be cool under pressure, quick in all conditions and totally focused.

Putting all that together is really difficult, but just imagine how

tough it is when you quite literally have to take a step up in class.

We moved up from the Nova last year up to the Mitsubishi EVO VI this year...

It's a lot smoother, the car, to drive - it's just the amount of

speed that you're carrying that makes it really hard to judge.

Especially with the fast stuff.

So it's taken a lot of getting used to.

You're carrying that much more speed.

It's just having the confidence that, yes, it will get round the corner fine!

If we turn in a good result here or there, then all the better, but it's

still early on in the season, so hopefully a bit more next year.

The third event in the SRC calendar around Aberdeen, the CARS Recovery Granite City Rally,

is always exciting, with fast technical stages squeezing the very best out of the crews.

Andy Horne's enjoyed a good start to his season -

he won this event in 2007, and he was happy with his preparations for this year.

Everything was perfect for us behind the scenes.

The team have to merge together now and make it all work.

If anything goes wrong, it'll be human error today.

In contrast, David Wilson had been the victim of mechanical failures in the first two rallies,

and he needed an ace performance to kick-start his push for honours.

Spent the last two weeks completely overhauling the car.

It needed an engine rebuild, brake pipes, suspension rebuild,

so a lot of lot of work.

It was quite reassuring yesterday - just got here on time, the car was

running perfect, so it's just down to the luck again.

Current SRC leader and defending champion David Bogie's also

trying his hand at the British Rally Championship.

Juggling both isn't easy.

It has put pressure on us this year.

We have to get the car through in one piece,

because there's very little time to sort it

-if something

-was

-to go wrong.

It's the same this weekend - I'm out again in two weeks' time

so it doesn't leave a huge amount of time to do any repairs.

Jock Armstrong is another driver who'd have wished for a better set of results.

He was hoping to bounce back from his non-finish in Jedburgh with a victory in Aberdeen.

We've got to have a win. Or be in...

You're always in the top three, but to win it's another scenario.

We'll see what happens here.

With a remarkable eight SRC event wins on the spin,

it was no surprise to see David Bogie and co-driver Kevin Rae

leading the way on stage one in their Mitsubishi EVO IX.

They covered the test in the fastest time of six minutes and 34 seconds.

That was seven seconds quicker than local driver and twice Scottish champion Dave Weston, who was an

early retirement on the Snowman and missed the Border Counties.

Left one in, lock right seven...

Jock Armstrong and Kirsty Riddick were third in their Subaru Impreza.

A further four seconds behind Weston.

Left five, 150...

-Very good.

-Like that?

-Yep.

As expected, Andy Horne, with Jim Howie on the notes,

put up a fine performance in the first run through Fetteresso.

Fourth overall, just a couple of seconds behind Armstrong.

Former Renault and Honda works driver Robbie Head, with Claire Mole

in the navigator's seat, rounded off the top five after stage one.

Although he was tied for time with David Wilson,

who also went around the test in six minutes and 51 seconds.

Euan Thorburn, from Duns, and co-driver Paul Beaton, were

going well until a freak incident took the wind out of their sails.

First stage was OK up until about halfway through.

There was a left-hander, it was under the trees and the branches,

brushed the side of the car.

There's a little switch on the outside that cuts the car out

if there's an emergency,

but the branches hit the switch and cut the car out completely dead.

We had to call the spectators over to prise the button back up

to let us go again, so we dropped 30, 40 seconds easily there.

After that, you're on the back foot and you're never going to gain that back.

Ten crews had already retired before the start of Glenfarquhar.

And there were to be more casualties in this test.

Most dramatic was an accident involving the Peugeot 205 of Jordan Black and Kirstie Marshall.

We got it wrong at one of the corners.

There was a car off in front of us, and when they were coming out the bank

and we got a fright and tried to get out of their road

and lost it and tumbled.

Nose first down the bank and kept tumbling.

You can see the cage has done its job though, it just shows you how safe these cars really are.

It's remarkable that both of us got out unscathed.

Dave Weston hadn't competed in the SRC for two-and-a-half years.

But he was finding his feet in his home event and scorched around the stage in 10.58.

Which relegated Bogie and Rae into second spot overall.

They didn't cope as well with the loose surface

and wound up 12 seconds down on Weston.

Jock Armstrong's time of 11.16 saw him consolidate

third position over Robbie Head, who'd moved up one place to fourth.

And long six right open...

And Carnforth's Wayne Sisson who was making strong forward progress

from eighth spot into fifth.

The top three reinforced their superiority on stage three.

Weston again setting the fastest time of 7.06 in his 2001 Ford Focus World Rally Car.

But, it was close with Bogie and Rae only a second behind

in the stage and six adrift overall going into service.

Edzell Airfield was being used for service, which unusually was one hour long.

So plenty of time to find out your latest position...

Compare notes about the next three stages...

Check out the spare...

..and carry out some running repairs.

No problems with the car. The car's been fantastic, the tyres have been brilliant.

It's probably been me that's inflicted the problems into the car.

So we've put fresh fluid through,

bled all the fluid through, so there's new fluid so...

Confident it should be all right through the rest of the day.

I don't think I could go much harder at the moment.

I would imagine David's got something in reserve

as he normally does, cos he's going really well this year.

But, no, I'll just keep enjoying it.

Armstrong and Riddick were 25 seconds behind Bogie,

but Jock was hopeful of pushing his young rival to the limit.

David is the only other one I need to beat today.

There's a few seconds between us, but, you know, you just need to go wider,

slide off on a corner, the pressure's there, there's plenty of pace. Quite happy today.

The real struggle was behind the top three.

Only six seconds separated Robbie Head in fourth.

From Wayne Sisson in fifth.

Mike Faulkner in sixth.

And David Wilson in seventh position.

There was very little in it.

We were obviously not miles away, but I didn't think we were on 110% as normal.

We'll try a little bit harder this afternoon,

see if we can get up to fourth. That's our aim.

Struggling on the loose marbles a little bit in terms of the traction.

But certainly, it's a balance between attacking

really hard and sliding around everywhere and loosing time

and just trying to be aggressive as well.

It was all change through the short fourth test -

Blackhall, near Banchory.

No-one could live with Bogie as he posted a seriously quick time

of five minutes and 55 seconds.

That was seven faster than Weston, which meant the Aberdeen driver

slipped back into the runners-up position with two stages left, although these two drivers

were almost a minute ahead of the rest of the field.

Jock Armstrong's hopes of overtaking Bogie disappeared

as a puncture ended his challenge.

What's wrong with it?

Open long left seven...

It was Robbie Head who took over from Jock in third.

And young David Wilson's third fastest stage time of 6.06

saw him achieve his ambition of making it

into fourth position in the rally overall.

With Mike Faulkner in fifth, only four seconds separated the three drivers

and the Granite City was shaping up to be one of the closest fought rallies of recent years.

It could hardly have been closer between the top two drivers in stage five.

Weston completing Durris two seconds faster than Bogie,

who now found himself in P2 - a single second behind Weston.

It was neck and neck in the struggle for third.

Mike Faulkner had leapfrogged Wilson and Head.

So it was all to play for going into Fetteresso for the second time.

Over the shortest test of the day,

there was never going to be much between Weston and Bogie.

They posted identical times of four minutes and 43 seconds - a winning return for Weston.

It was tight all day, I mean we were only two seconds out of David.

Being honest, that's an ex-2001 world rally car,

so it should be beaten at a virtual standard bend car.

He's a fantastic driver and had a fantastic season.

To beat the current leader in British championship. I'm fair chuffed with myself.

We knew coming out the last stage it was going to be very, very close,

so just to get pipped by a second was frustrating.

It would maybe have been easier if we had lost by 10 or 15.

The contest for third was as tight as you could get.

Faulkner and Wilson tied on the same time,

but the Alness youngster clinched the final podium position

under tiebreak rules thanks to a quicker time through the first stage.

Oh, brilliant. So delighted, I never thought we would be here.

Thought maybe fourth, but never third. It's brilliant.

A bit gutted really, but...

Still, live to fight another day.

The most disappointed man on the day was Jock Armstrong.

His puncture on four damaging his title aspirations.

Disaster today. Front puncture at the five or six mile stage,

maybe within the first mile.

Just went down and needed to decide whether to stop and change it

or just roll to the end, so we just trundled to the end.

Disappointed to say the least.

That's life, isn't it? That's rallying.

In other classes, Alasdair Graham, with Kenny McGuire on the notes,

took top honours in the 1600 category in his Vauxhall Corsa.

And Iain Haining, from Dumfries, with Mairi Riddick navigating,

recorded their third straight victory in class three in a Vauxhall Nova.

After three rounds of the SRC, Donnie MacDonald finds himself

in fifth position thanks to top ten finishes in the first two events.

Robbie Head's nine points in front of MacDonald in fourth.

In third, it's Euan Thorburn on 79 points.

Mike Faulkner's second with 80.

But still leading, it's David Bogie on 88 points.

Louise Sutherland is one of the SRC's best-known navigators.

She's a self-confessed rally nut, she's often

seen tearing around the events in Steve Bannister's Mark II Escort.

Steve didn't compete in Aberdeen, so Louise just had to find another seat.

Completely different driving style.

A lot faster into corners, so braking is an awful lot later.

Quicker away from corners as well, it just feels

much more stable really.

It makes a change looking out the front window. It's good.

I would always say I'm a Mark II girl, to be honest.

I love the rear wheel drive, I love the feeling it gives you.

It's a real buzz sitting in a Mark II car, especially when it's driven well.

It is great to get out in a four-wheel drive,

but I think ultimately I will always prefer the two-wheel drive.

Once again, the Jim Clark Reivers Rally was flagged off from the centre of Duns, its spiritual home.

Spectators were out in numbers on the eight stages, although some were more interested than others.

The Reivers is the only SRC event run on public roads.

Tarmac has its critics, but many of the drivers love the challenges thrown up by the surface.

I really like this event. I've done it once before in '97

in a Renault and we were fortunate enough to win it,

and that was the international part of the rally.

I like the stages, I've a bit of knowledge of these stages,

-so hopefully that will stand me in good stead.

-I like the tarmac.

I've had some good results on the tarmac in the past,

but this rally has never been particularly good to me,

so we're hoping for a good result today to put that right.

David Bogie's leading the Scottish and British championships after three rounds.

He'd switched from his usual EVO IX to his dad's old MG Metro 6R4 and he was in confident mood.

Rhona caught up with him just before the start.

David, championship going very, very well for you so far, what do you hope today from this one?

Yeah, you're right, it's been an excellent start to the year,

so we're coming into this rally in a different car than we normally use.

It's a car my dad's campaigned in the past so...

You know, we're going to go for a win.

It will be interesting, and if it stays dry it will make the job easier for me.

The car is 23 years old, the same age as me, so that will be a learning experience,

but really looking forward to it.

Euan Thorburn's going well in third place in the championship,

and the youngster from Duns would be determined to impress in his home event.

There are four different stages, each run twice.

Bogie and navigator Kevin Rae set a blistering pace from the start.

They were 12 seconds ahead of the rest of the field after the first stage.

50. Two right.

To put that in perspective, positions two through to ten

were separated by only eight-and-a-half seconds.

40. Left over crest and three minus the grid.

Euan Thorburn and Paul Beaton were leading the chasing pack.

Mike Faulkner and Peter Foy were in third.

Jock Armstrong was 16 adrift of Bogie in fifth, with stand-in co-driver Barry McNulty.

And in tenth spot, it was Robbie Head and Claire Mole.

They were only eight-and-a-half seconds behind Thorburn in P2,

so a tough battle was already developing for the podium.

There was no let up from Bogie on stage two, increasing his lead over Thorburn by a further seven seconds.

He was flying in the old 6R4, although the ride wasn't without its problems.

I forgot how bad the car was over the bumps compared to a more modern Mitsubishi.

So, we had a few kind of wider moments, but, no, very, very good. Happy.

Euan Thorburn maintained his progress in second,

but knew he'd have to up his game if he was to stand a chance against the defending SRC champion.

We were a bit too cautious. It was OK in the open parts

where the wind was clearing the damp off, but under the trees

it's quite slippy and it's hard to judge

so you're always feeling for the grip the whole time.

We were loosing time to David,

so hopefully it will stay dry for the next pass and we will try harder.

Jock Armstrong had also improved, moving into fourth overall in his

Subaru Impreza in a time of seven minutes.

But Mike Faulkner had hit trouble and had dropped two places to fifth.

Last stage about half way through, just cut on a dome cut and hit a rock with the front wheel.

We don't know how the Hankook tyres stayed up because it certainly didn't deserve to.

I turned in the next corner expecting to be on the rim, but apart from backing off for a mile

just to make sure nothing was wrong, got a little bit of vibration in the steering,

but didn't slow us up so we're pleased with that.

Robbie Head was turning back the clock, moving from tenth

to sixth and he was clearly enjoying his return to the tarmac.

It's just all coming back.

It floods in eventually but I'm old -

it's been a while since I've done it, so...

We'll get faster as the day goes on, that's the key.

But David's flying, I mean fair play, absolutely on it.

Remember, there are four separate stages on the Reivers, each of which is run twice.

And it seemed no-one could catch David Bogie, whose lead over the field had grown to 36 seconds.

Six left. Into three right minus over grid...

Euan Thorburn was comfortable in second, but he was

ruing a mistake on stage four which cost him valuable time.

Four left.

Whoa, whoa. You've got it, you've got it.

50, crest 100.

Jock Armstrong was putting in a typically gutsy performance and he

was now in third, although there was a bit of a drama at service.

The oil filter split.

Whether the exhaust moved about and damaged it or whether it's been damaged,

something maybe cracked it.

Luckily it's just started to leak there. Taken the oil filter off

and not lost a lot of oil,

so no seizure to the engine hopefully.

Faulkner and Foy had regrouped after their earlier tyre problem

and they'd moved up a place to fourth.

We're knocking on the door so that's all we can ask for to go into the afternoon.

Robbie Head and Claire Mole were still improving in fifth.

Andy Horne and navigator Jim Howie were making a move.

They'd finished stage one in 11th position, and after four stages,

they were up to sixth - only four seconds behind Head.

David Bogie's Metro 6R4 is a real crowd pleaser.

And the car's got history in this event.

David's father John won the rally with it in 2002.

I took it a run last night.

It was the first time I've drove the car in four or five years.

I took it a run up the road and thought to myself,

this is quite good, but, no, I'll not be back.

Leave it to the young ones, it's a different league from me here.

It's a two and half litre natural aspirated engine.

It's old technology with the engine in the rear, the car's not good on

the bumps and the general chassis set up is not the best over bumps.

But very rewarding to drive.

Euan Thorburn looked safe in second.

However, a hard charging Jock Armstrong...

..was eating into his advantage.

And Mike Faulkner was also challenging for a podium spot, just nine seconds behind Armstrong.

Robbie Head wasn't out of it either.

He was lying fifth, just one second clear of Andy Horne.

Crest 100.

Four right at tree...

Dominic Buckley, with co-driver Dougie Redpath,

had been making steady progress,

but a close encounter with a hedge on stage five ruined their hopes.

Steady.

At the top of the leaderboard, there was no stopping David Bogie as he and Kevin Rae extended their lead

on Thorburn and Beaton to just over a minute.

Armstrong was still threatening Thorburn -

the gap now down to 16 seconds.

We seemed to get away in that last stage.

Maybe the stage before, maybe we tried to push too hard as well,

so calmed down and actually took time out of Euan Thorburn on the last stage, so that's all good.

Faulkner was having a battle royal with Head.

Just four seconds separated them in fourth and fifth.

Stage seven was cancelled due to an accident.

And the top five held their positions through the final test.

Six left.

So, it was a third successive win in the Jim Clark Reivers Rally

for David Bogie to add to his triumph

the previous day in the fourth round of the British championship, which he also leads.

Quite a weekend for the Dumfries ace.

Today's been crazy, you know reflecting on the whole weekend.

To win the International and then to get the win on the Reivers it's just mental, it really is.

To come here to achieve that, to get maximum points, it's just hard to sum up in words.

The first two-wheel drive car home was the historic Ford Escort Mark II

of Steve Bannister and Louise Sutherland.

They came in tenth spot and took a class win.

Peter Taylor, with Andrew Roughhead on the notes, also took class honours in his Renault Clio.

Finishing 14th overall in only his third rally in the car.

Donnie MacDonald, from Inverness, with notes-man Ian McIvor, hadn't intended taking part.

But the carrot of keeping his top five place in the championship was too tempting.

They finished 23rd, but still picked up valuable points.

We're now at the halfway in the MSA Scottish Rally Championship.

Those points mean MacDonald retains fifth position

in the title race on 79.

Robbie Head's still in fourth on 98 points.

Mike Faulkner's fallen back to third on 106.

Euan Thorburn moves into second with 107 points.

But David Bogie looks good to keep hold of his title.

He's leading on 118 points.

Well, at the halfway stage, it's well done once again to David Bogie.

Yes, he's the man quite literally still out in front.

-From all of us in Duns at the Jim Clark Rally, see you next time.

-Bye-bye.

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