Bogie cruises to third win of 2011posted in SRC19 | 03 | 2011
DUMFRIES RALLY ACE David Bogie continued his domination of the 2011 season when he cruised to victory in the Border Counties Rally, the second round of the Scottish Championship.
The 23-year-old, already a winner this year of the opening rounds of both the Scottish and British Rally Championships, clinched his third win of the season by 34 seconds.
"Everything went pretty much as planned," Bogie, co-driven in his Mitsubishi Evo IX by Hawick's Kevin Rae, admitted today after returning to rally HQ in Jedburgh having negotiated the gruelling 44 miles in Kielder Forest.
"We managed to settle into a good rhythm right from the opening stage and really just concentrated on keeping it smooth and steady right the way through the day.
"The wins earlier this season in Inverness and Bournemouth were great, but winning the Border Counties for the first time now means I've won every round on the Scottish Championship calendar.
"So far this season's really been a bit of a dream; three starts and three wins. Hopefully we can keep this form going right through the season and it would be fantastic to win both the Scottish and British titles. But I know there's a long way to go."
Bogie, winner of the Scottish Championship in 2009 and '10 and now odds-on favourite to make it a hat-trick of titles, was quickest on all four stages.
Behind Bogie, Mike Faulkner from Kirtlebridge brought his Mitsubishi home in second place, 34s behind the winner and another 34s ahead of the Mitsubishi of third-placed Euan Thorburn from Duns.
And while Jock Armstrong from Castle Douglas, fourth at the end of the opening stage, was forced to retire on the day's second stage after the gearstick on his Subaru broke, Bothwell's Robbie Head continued his return to competitive action.
The former British Championship Renault works driver-turned-rally-TV-pundit, finished fifth in his Mitsubishi, just seven seconds behind Invernessian Andy Horne in fourth place.
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Jim McGill
Photo: LindsayPhotoSport