16/10/2011 Scottish Rally Championship

Hello and welcome to the second half of the 2011 Scottish Rally

Championship. In the title race it is Bogie in complete will control.

Here to assess his chances we have a special guest. Stick? Come on,

John, you didn't think we'd have the real one did you? We do have

one, he is coming up later in the programme but for now, let's go

back to the Scottish Rally in The RSAC Scottish Rally around

Dumfries is traditionally hot and dusty, but not this year.

Torrential rain during the week had carried through into the day of the

event. The dust last year was a problem. Now the dust is replaced

by Mud. It is one or the other. They are as bad as each other.

is a home round for a number of this year's drivers. The defending

champion Bogie is fighting on two friends, leading the Scottish and

British Rally Championships. have won both championships and we

have to ensure where they are in defeats, to ensure we have the get

chances of doing so. John Carlstrom was feeling the stress. To record

his first victory in his local rally. Hopefully we will win it.

is 30 points for victory, 28 the second, 27th of third, 26 for a 4th,

and so on, down to one point for Former SRC title challenger Stephen

Clark endured an arduous three-day journey back from his job on an oil

rig of China to compete in his Lancia evoke four, alongside

first service. Shearwater went well adrift of Thorburn and beaten.

Sisson was a further six seconds in front. But already a significant

move had been made by three crews who would continue to battle it out

all day. For her and that his ego six Act was in third, less than

three seconds off the lead. -- Paul Neff. In the unusually slippery

stages, it was Bogie and Rae setting the pace, ahead of

Armstrong and Riddick. To comply with insurance, organisers set a

minimum time for each stage. drivers who beat it are given the

same time so Bogie and Armstrong were both locked on 13 minutes.

is the rules. There are exceptions. It is maybe two or three seconds

over the time but when it is 21 seconds over, it is bad

organisation. It is one of these things. It was a class to drive.

Hopefully it is not the story for the rest of the day. The rules had

worked in Jobb -- in Jock's favour but he had worried that his first

service. Our basket is hanging out of the back of the exhaust. They

are tying it up, they are ripping it up well, but we have a short

stage now and look at it after that. the top 11 cars, the first time

through this special spectator stage. There is a saying about here.

You can't win the rally in it but make a mistake and you can

certainly lose it. Mike Faulkner was taking no chances as he clung

on to third place, completing the testing one minute and six-tenths

quicker and retained second place. Andy Thorn put down a marker as he

blasted through the short stage in 59.7 seconds. But Bogie's pace

counted, one-tenth of a second familiar pattern which had seen

Bogie Andrei win appeared to be recruiting itself. They were six

seconds upon on strike. Dashed up on on strong. Jock was doing well

to keep in touch, seven seconds in front of Mike Fort Worth. This top

three tussle would keep the spectators crypt for the rest of

saw him in 19th position, former Renault and Honda works driver Head

had hauled himself back at the order to 13th by the end of Castle

or. But despite his best efforts 12th spot was the highest Head

could achieve after a final stage puncture and he left the event a

frustrated and disappointed man. Terrible, we were on the back foot

gained big time which I'm disappointed about. I was hoping to

have a good, clean stage, get off to a good start and it hasn't

happened. Hoare continued to push. He came into the second service

halt in fourth position in the rally -- Horn. We have had a good

day, a trouble free day. We are sitting 4th because other people

have had this fortune. That is the wave rallying does sometimes. We

have had our own days of misfortune. We are good. Faulkner recorded the

second quickest time, which kept him snapping up the heels of

Armstrong. And Bogie, who had increased his lead to 15 seconds

after another fine performance in stage four. But there was drama at

the second stopped for the depend - - bothered defending champion. His

crew had to push his Lancer Evo nine the length of the service area

to reach the mechanics. I went to start the car after we popped into

control and it would not start. It would not fire up after the jump-

start. We will look at it now and see. The starter motor had jammed

so Bogie's crew had to work flat out as the service time clock

a problem because it was OK before we came into service, so it is good

it is going and it will resume. This is a bogie pop -- this is

Bogie's dad, John. Business as usual as his son kept up the pace

the second time around he told. Bogie was picked for the quickest

time of the day by Andy Horne, who went round in 59 seconds.

Thorburn, who has had a Dyfed -- disappointing season so far, was

well up to the challenge. Just two- tenths of a second down on Andy

Horn but ahead of Bogie. Tulkarm strong dropped more time, so going

into the final stage it looked like consecutive victories in the

Scottish word bogie Beck Row's for out keeper Andy Horne and yuan for

Bernabo. And Armstrong really had to push his car to the limit if he

was to stand a chance. All Bogie had to do was keep a steady pace

and the win would be his. But then disaster struck, when Bogie picked

up a front puncture five miles from the finish. Would it be enough to

cost him the rally? How long have we got? 2.2. Along one left.

Business fortune meant that Armstrong was back in contention

and it was the Castle Douglas driver who proved he had the nerve

-- Bogie's misfortune. He was ten seconds quicker than Mike Faulkner.

I think we have got it, mate. was dismay for Bogie. I hit a bump.

When it hit a bump it left the road and hit the bank and we drove along

been since -- distance with a puncture. Trying hard but the last

three miles come as something was broken, so it was real... I don't

know. It was a day of drama. About four miles before the end there was

a massive rock and I could see it, I thought someone has put it, and

we have kissed it. I hope I did not get a butcher -- puncture. It has

been fantastic. It was pure joy for Armstrong, who won his first ever

something like that. It is the joy of the sport. I wasn't doing

anything wild. It is the way it goes. To the victor, the spoils,

and much needed maximum points. leading two-wheel drive competitor

was 2000 and a Scottish junior champion, McCulloch, with Wallace

in her Ford Fiesta ST. The local Thornhill crew of Harkness and

march back were the clear winners of Class A to, ending the day and

26th overall. After one of the most dramatic finishes in year to one

SRC event, the Scottish victory championship favourite despite his

misfortune. What a great win for Jock Armstrong and his drivers like

Jock and Bogie and Thorburn are such great role models for

tomorrow's rally champions and those stars of the future get all

the help they need to develop their skills from the junior 1000

challenge which they can enter from It is team-building, character-

building. When you get them all together, you get the camaraderie

thing. It is what we have been a I have been learning to drive a

rally car, farm tracks, fields, tests, anyway you can get to drive.

I will be doing single venue Tarmac events, because we're not allowed

in the forest in case we crashed into trees. It is not as though you

are out there to do handbrake turns. You are out there to compete with

other people. Everyone thinks they are good but it is down to the

driver, we are in the same car. talent is out there. We have to

give them the experience, allow them to develop. I would like to be

high up in the Scottish championship but time will tell.

will be in the top ten, hopefully. Up with the big boys. The 6th round

of the Scottish Rally Championship, the Gleaner Oil and Gas Speyside

Stages held extra significance this year. If defending SRC champion

David Bogie could win the event he would retain the title for the

third year running. That would allow him to concentrate on Kensit

-- clinching the laurels in the British Rally Championship, which

he was also leading. It would be great, if we could tie the

championship today it would relieve the pressure. I am pretty sure we

would still do the last two will is but it would mean a huge amount, I

could fully concentrate on the British Championship and that is

A we will try to stop them today, that is the plan today. Jukka

Armstrong was confident he would do well. This rally has been good in

the past, it is a fast rally. If you have a result in the last round,

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 49 seconds

brilliant. It has got me fired up Riddoch has set a blistering pace

to lead the field by three seconds after the two stage blast around

himself four seconds adrift. He and Rae went round in the quickest town,

to go into second place behind the Castle Douglas pairing. He won for

Byrne and Paul Deacon were third quickest in their Lancer Evo nine.

And just two seconds behind it was Andy Thorn and Jim Howe week in

their DA and 4,100. Head made at the top five. McKenzie with his co-

driver had been a late addition to the entry list. He made a big move,

climbing from 18th to tenth in the standings. With the first three

stages only totalling just over four miles, a mere 22 seconds

separated the top ten crews. This was the longest stage in the event

and it was to prove a turning point. Armstrong took a three-second lead

into the test, knowing he had to push hard if he was to keep his

Championship hopes alive. In the end he pushed too hard and his race

Are we on the road? No. I'm miles off the road. Are you all right?

Are you OK? I don't know what happened. Yeah. Not my best bit of

driving, however. Both back corners, panelled damage, no glass broken.

The front bumper. Apart from whiplash wit or repair. Not too bad,

we can say we are on leave now. That left the way clear for Bogie

to stamp his authority on Gas Speyside. He was quickest through

Craig end to kill, a full 17 seconds faster than Faulkner and

his standing co-driver, Sutherland. They were locked in a titanic

struggle with Thorburn. It is not over yet. We will push on. Under

the trees that is slippy, you have to watch what you're doing. We will

try to get some time back. We have to get in front of Euan, we are

tied. We will see how David is going, attack and get as close as

we can. You never know what you can do in rallying, it is the last

event to prove. Head was going well in this. We need to pick the peso.

We need to go faster at. We need to get onto the podium. -- we need to

pick up the pace up. We will give winning position. They had another

fastest stage times. We have a good enough lead. We can't afford to do

anything silly. We are pushing on hard enough to keep up the

concentration. Really enjoying it. This stage we have just done was

the battle between the Lancer Evo six off...... And Thorburn in their

Lancer Evo nine. After posting identical times in clerkly, they

did it again in the ward, amazing tussle for spectators for watch.

The pair were locked on an overall time of 27.4-two. The last two

stages have been exactly the same time. He's doing the same as we are,

he's trying hard. A good push today, two stages left, we will have to

carry on the same as we are going and hope we compete. The last

stages slippy, lots of chicanes. We prefer to try to do it in the next

one, not have the last one asked the decider. Time will tell. Robbie

Head had moved up a position into force. -- force. He was following

his daughter's Amelie's advice, even if Bogie wasn't. With the heat

on, he was ready to pounce if Thorburn or Faulkner made a mistake.

You never know until it is physically over because rallying is

unpredictable. Things can happen. That is what makes it interesting.

We will keep pushing. We are here to try to get on the podium. We

will not give up. The Inverness pairing of MacDonald and beaten

were proving why they were legitimate challengers for an over

riled -- for an overall top-five finish in the Championship. They

have been consistent and were occupying a ten -- top ten place.

am pleased because my car is reliable. That is where I have been

put why am. By car has never let me down. It is right when we go to the

start and it finishes. That is Thorburn was so intent they were

pushing each other to the limit and as a consequence they both had

Bogie wing-back stripes, recording the same time for the third

consecutive stage. There was another decent fight between

Groundwater... And McKenzie, who was moving up the rankings, only

six seconds separated the pair concentrating on their own dog

fight, Bogie was able to take things steady and tighten his grip

on the event. And the Championship. It has been a great day. I came

here to win the rally and that would give us the Championship,

said to come away with both, it is not sunk in yet. Thorburn really

pushed hard in the final test, recording the fastest stage times

and a youngster clinched second position in the space side.

last three or four stages, there was nothing in it. I had a good run.

I thought it could not be possible. The last one was an awful stage.

There was a lot of chicanes. It was so easy to make a mistake, and Mike

did. It was good news for us. Bogie's joy constructs --

contrasted with Armstrong's despair, his scene -- is season as good as

over after his crash in stage four. Male and Forest led home the Escort

Mark to contingent. After three previous retirements this season,

Robson was delighted with his class the minor placings. 5th on 122

points, it is MacDonald. Head was second man to win three consecutive

Scottish Rally Championships. Now he and Rae could turn their full

attention to the British championship. Would it be a

memorable double? To think when I started rallying, to achieve three

Scottish championship wins, it's something I would never have

dreamed of. To do that and still have a chance of winning the

British championship as well, it rallying but you can't take

bellying out of the man. There is something about the sport that

keeps bringing people back. Robbie Head hadn't competed for five years

but he could not resist the lure of the gravel and the forest. I put

pressure on myself to perform well. Because you have done it before,

you want to come back and get back to that level. Even the other side

of the camera, doing your job, I was missing the bus. That's why I

came back to it. The results haven't been what I was looking for,

to be honest. I would really like to get on the podium and get up

with David. I have been a long time away from it. You do miss the

adrenalin rush. That is one of the biggest things about the sport.

When you are on the STAND line, it makes you feel completely alive. I

was missing that. With the Scottish title tied up, David Bogie opted

not to take part in his local event, the ProTune Remapping Merrick Merit

stages rally in and around Wigton. The other absentee... There was

still all to play for in the battle for second place in the

championship, Mike thought the red -- Peter foyer was tied.

Merrick would go a long wait to decide who would finish the was the

runner-up to Bogie. We go out to win every event, give 100%. That is

what we will do today and see what happens. It will be an interesting

day, a close battle with Euan for the Championship. It is the highest

place we can get, equal with might, so we will get a good fight to date

and we were close Gas Speyside. Hopefully it will be the same again

off to an absolute Stormer. They covered the stage in eight minutes

and 31 seconds. A full 17 seconds clear off the next best team, Head.

Sisson making only his 4th outing of the season was third, 21 seconds

behind the leader. It wasn't a good stage for Thorburn. His turbo pipe

came off midway through and he dropped a minute and a half to

falter, finishing the stage and expect very slippery conditions,

the level of grip was actually quite good. Maybe that lulled

Faulkner and spirit Foy into a false sense of security. But the

performance was still enough for them to return their overall lead.

We were driving within ourselves, we thought, but just really muddy

in the end, caught the trees on the outside. Luck tkwroi get away with

it. The advantage was now down to eight seconds. Robbie Head

maintained second spot and proving he needed a few events under his

belt to get back into contention for podium places. He had a three-

stage quick fire loop to get into the lead. Where you get no respite,

it's bang, bang, bang A void punctures and have good stage times.

In these short events, it's a sprint. You drive everyone flat out.

So you can't really use a tactic on it. The The quickest time over

stage two belonged to Ewan Thorburn. He was ten seconds faster than

Falconer. It moved him up 15 places to 20 seconds overall. It was a

good fight. Hoping to continue that today. Just one of those things,

it's bad luck. But it always seemed to happen know. We were fastest on

the last stage. We gave away over a minute to Mike. We'll never catch

it up, unless he has problems. really heating newspaper stage

three. The EVO nine were top of the time sheet cutting Faulkner's lead

to three seconds. Thorburn was two seconds behind Head ace stage time.

He moved into 13th. How much was he cursing his bad luck on the opener?

Wayne SISon was hanging stkwron third, just two seconds ahead of

kiss Collie, who had increased his pace with each event through the

Thorburn into the top five for the first time in the day. He was tied

with Chris Collie and had SISon in his sights. The Englishman was 19

seconds down on Thorburn's stage time but still in third. Mike

Faulkner reasserted control of the rally by completing the stage four

seconds quicker than Robbie Head. His lead to seven seconds with two

stages to go. There was a tight finish on the

penultimate test. Faulkner Andrews head with the same time. So they

went into the final and longest stage with Faulkner seven seconds

up on his rival. The last few we've just been building the confidence

up again. We won't have that luxury for the last one. Robbie will be

trying to put it up a level as well. I gained one second over the three

stages. It's all to play for. Twin or bin it. Thorburn kept up his

momentum, just a second adrift of the leaders on the stage and now in

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 49 seconds

victory after the final stage? Faulkner and Foy had never won at

the merrik. So they had to go for broke to take the winners' laurels.

Would Head and Molby go all out for Vic -- victory. No problems, if

he's taken it in there, he deserve it's. Have you done enough?

close, it's hard to say. We didn't have any problems. Probably second,

which you know, we pushed, but we didn't take major risks you know.

Second's a good result. I'm happy with it. It's the first time on the

podium this year. In the end, it was a triumph for Faulkner and Foy,

the win edge them two points clear of Thorburn going into the last

event. It's as good as it gets. You can't do better than that. It's

tight with Ewan, it's all to play for.

Looking forward to this now. chance at third there, after this

morning's problems, it was never going to be. Fair play to Mike. He

drove well. Did he win? Yeah, he won. Fair play. We have to try to

beat him there instead. Head and Mol were confirmed as

runners up. Who took the final place? SISon and Thorburn tied on

the same time Sisson was third because of his quicker time on

stage one. Among the crew who's failed to make it were Donny

McDonald, the first non-finish of the season. Fifth in the standings

going into the event, their challenge ended when they went off

the road no a ditch in the enultimate stage. Dougal Brown's

event ended with disaster on the final stage when the EVO4 came off

the road. Dougal was airlifted to hospital, where thankfully he made

a quick recovery. Lewis suffered shock, but was otherwise unharmed.

In other classes, there was a brilliant win in the two-wheel

category for 19-year-old Cumbrian Peter Taylor, co-driven by Andrew

Ruffhead in the Renault Cleo, one of the drives of the season. There

was a superb come back win for Andy rally and we hung up the helmet

after that. This is really the first Time Out since then. It's

been a while. I expect to be rusty for the first few corners. Couple

of stages, it really is immense fun and great to be back. If today's

anything to go by I'm not going to be able to get enough of it. Great

camraderie, good fun. Everybody helps each other. Nobody's aiming

to be world champion. Fantastic! Really, really good, enjoyable day.

How does that result affect the top rally drivers out of Scandinavia.

He was world champion in 1984 and runner up the following year.

Stig's never lost his love of the sport. He couldn't wait to compete

at the forest stages. Tell me what your memories are of when you won

the world championship? It was down in Ivory Coast. It was lucky to

finish that rally and get it all done. That was a bit of a difficult

one, but I managed to win that and the championship was home. That was

nice. You're one of several great rally drivers to come from

Scandinavia. Why is it that the Nordic countries produce such good

drivers? I think in those days we have the possibility to drive a lot,

on ice and snow and gravel all the time. We get a lot of experience on

that. But everything is different now. So it's the Europeans have

been taking over a bit. Sweden, we don't have any at the moment.

Bogie has won the Scottish rally champion and the British rally

championship. What do you know and think of Scottish rally driving at

the moment? It seems to be fairly good, but we were talking about it

last night, and it could go further now. It's very, very difficult.

Need a lot of money and that's athe biggest problem for young drivers.

It should be able to do it because of his talent. I don't know about

the money. -- the body. That's the biggest question. The weather

didn't do this stage any favours this year. As the two-wheel drive

crews gathered, word came through of a delay when the first stage was

blocked by one of the historics, forcing organisers to rethink their

plans. They decided to postpone stage one for the main field and

third places in the Scottish championship. Mike Faulkner held a

two-point advantage over Euan Thorburn before the event, so Euan

Thorburn had to beat Mike by two points to be in with a chance. It

was looking good, as he bested his rival by almost eight seconds.

Treacherous. It's just really muddy. -- muddy. You can't commit. It's

pretty much the case of driving as you see it. It's not the best way

to finish off the championship. I think these two might be better

than what that one was. Fingers crossed we can have a push.

stages are terrible. The weather is terrible. A Land Rover would have

been more the vehicle you needed. Thorburn was just edged out of the

quickest stage time by Shawn Sinclair taking part of only his

third rally of the season. He didn't want to interfere in the

season-long battle, so wouldn't take any points. The slippery stuff

always suits me. I'm always up the gears. It's horrendous conditions.

Since Sinclair wouldn't pick up points, Malcom Buchanan found

six miles to go. I backed right off because it was sliding wildly

around. We have discovered it's flattened the exhaust somewhere. We

have virtually no boost. It was a very, very steady drive for half

the stage at least. I'm amazed we're so close. The conditions are

horrendous. The rocks, like that challenged the drivers' skills to

the limit on the first stage. Back in the service area, the mechanics

had to cope with the elements. Surprisingly, the grip was better

than expected. It was Faulkner who retook the initiative with the

fastest stage time, almost three seconds quicker than Thorburn.

The pair had been dueling for second place in the championship

all season and were now involved in an almighty scrap in the sludge.

Still pretty close, so just trying hard, slipy. Just got to keep it on

the road till the end. The good thing is that's pulled the gap with

Shawn and Robbie. That's what matters. It's hard work. You're

living on your whits. You're trying to react to the conditions. The car

has a mind of its own sometimes. That wasn't as bad. There was grip

to be had. We're in the lead just, it's still all to play for.

Malcom Buchanan faultered, dropping to sixth overall. Louise Sutherland

and Steve Bannister seemed to relish the conditions, in ninth

spot after this stage. Robbie Head saw his chances of a

podium evaporate, when he fin shalled the stage a full minute --

finished the stage a full minute- and-a-half behind Faulkner and lost

his place in the running order to Shawn Sinclair.

The boost pipes come off down the bottom. It's popped off completely

at the start of the stage. It's like driving on normally as

operated one litre. We dropped over a minute. We're tenth or something.

We're trying to work out where we can get to with the next 18 miles,

longest stage of the day, for was five seconds behind for them. If it

stayed like that the pair would be level on points and the destination

of second and third place in the Championship would be decided by a

tie-break and some complicated maths. Thorburn drove brilliantly,

extending his lead over Falconer to 18 seconds. It proved to be good

enough. Thorburn feck -- kept his nerve through the final stage to

win the event, while Bolton or stuff that brake failure early on

and could only limp through. For Bernard Bot there were locked on

the same number of Championship points. So who had come second to

the imperious Bogie? It was all down to the dreaded count back. As

for Byrne and Faulkner awaited their fate, their destination of

the runners-up trophy hung in the balance. Eventually after checking

and double-checking the figures, Championship chairman Neil Shanxi

and his deputy Dave Robson was satisfied they'd had the answer.

You count your best six caused an Championship, each had finished all

six rounds and dropped two scores. We then had to go right back into

the number of first, second, third, in the counting their best six-

course. We could not split them on that so the next level takes you

back to the snowman rally, between Euan and Mike, who had the best

result and that was Euan, who had second place, when Mike Catt force.

It was the 5th level of the tie- break, splitting you and Beck Row's

favour. So joy for Thorburn put a bit us what -- bitter pill to

For a has done well today. thought on the countback we would

have got it but with the problems on the last stage the result would

not have been any different. makes it even better. Delighted. It

has been a tough year. Pretty good to get second and a win today tops

the year rough. As usual at the Colin McRae Forest Stages, the

historic led the way. Stig took the honours in a Ford Escort, giving

him much-needed car time before his next Rally in Kenya. Malcolm

Buchanan came third and won Class eight in his Escort Mark two. The

season's Group A and Championship was won by Dakar in a Subaru

Impreza, and a prize for the 2012 Championship. And a day of

unrelenting bad weather the Colin McRae Forest Stages as Billy UPS --