Bogie clinches maiden BRC winposted in RSCOT26 | 02 | 2011

DOUBLE SCOTTISH champ David Bogie began his bid to win the British Rally Championship for the first time by winning the opening round, the Bournemouth-based Rallye Sunseeker.

The 23-year-old from Dumfries, fastest through five of the 11 stages in his Mitsubishi Evo IX and who clocked 1hr 00mins 44.4secs for the 67-miles, eventually sealed his first BRC victory by 21.8-seconds ahead of Aberdovey's Tom Cave in another Mitsubishi.

Elfyn Evans from Machynlleth was third, a further 5.6s adrift in his Subaru Impreza, with England's Adam Gould fourth in another Impreza, 34.3s behind the classy Bogie.

"It's the perfect way to start the season," Bogie, co-driven by Hawick's Kevin Rae and who also won last weekend's opening round of the Scottish Championship, the Snowman in Inverness, said today.

"We struggled a bit in the morning with a small fuel issue, but we managed to step up the pace just a bit in the afternoon and that allowed us to increase the pressure on the rest of the guys.

"Tom pushed us right through the day, but we managed to maintain our pace and concentration to clinch our first win in the BRC; and yeh, it feels good."

But while Bogie — who also finished fourth in last year's RallyScotland, the penultimate round of the International Rally Championship — celebrated, there was disappointment and frustration for two other Scots.

Euan Thorburn from Duns, who finished second behind Bogie in the Snowman, had to retire his Mitsubishi at the end of stage three.

John MacCrone meanwhile, who had travelled to the south coast from his home on the Isle of Mull, lasted even less time in the event when his Ford Fiesta stopped with electrical failure on the start line of stage two.

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Jim McGill

Photo: LindsayPhotoSport