Crash mars Bogie's hat-trick 14 | 04 | 2012
SCOTLAND'S MOST TALENTED young rally driver, David Bogie, continued his domination of the Scottish Rally Championship when he cruised to victory in today's Coltel Granite City Rally.
But the Inverurie-based event, the third round of the Scottish Championship, was marred by a sickening crash on the opening stage which injured three spectators.
As spectators rushed to aid the Nissan Micra driven by Rachel Medich after it veered into a ditch, the Peugeot of Simon Frazer Hay went off at exactly the same spot minutes later hitting a number of them.
Immediately the stage was closed and emergency services and rescue crews were sent into the stage. An ambulance was also dispatched immediately.
All three injured spectators — one a competitor in the Scottish Rally Championship, and all three members of one of Scotland's leading motorsport clubs — were treated at the scene before being taken to hospital. One of the spectators was airlifted by helicopter.
"Obviously this is a sad incident, and our thoughts are with the injured spectators," Ian Shiells, Clerk of the Course, said today.
"Safety is always paramount in Scottish rallying, and we thank the rescue crews and medical staff for their swift response to the incident. Naturally our thoughts are with the injured spectators"
Bogie, winner of the opening two rounds in his Mitsubishi Evo IX, was again in imperious form winning all four of the stages which were contested.
"It's fantastic to win again this year," the 24-year-old from Dumfries, who finished 33secs ahead the the Ford World Rally Car of Duns-based Euan Thorburn, said.
"But today our thoughts are with the people who were injured in the incident earlier today. We're all thinking of them and their families, and we pray they recover fully from their injuries."
The leading two-wheel-drive crew was Alford's David Wilson and veteran navigator Dave Robson, from Aberdeen, in a Ford Escort MkII. The pair finished a highly impressive 13th overall.
In the other 2WD classes, which ran ahead of the field, West Linton's John Boyd and Chris Williamson from Glenrothes, in a Ford Fiesta R2, took a convincing class win, and 18th overall, in the 1600cc category.
The duo finished 19secs ahead of the Honda Civic of Graeme Schoneville (Carluke) and Michael Hendry (Elgin), who ended the day 21st.
The Ayrshire crew of Blair and Alex McCulloch took top honours in Class 3 in a Vauxhall Nova, but they were beaten by one place in the overall standings by Dumfriesshire teenager and fellow Nova competitor Greg McKnight.
The youngster celebrated his second successive victory in Class 3, much to the delight of his co-driving dad Greg.
Coltel Granite City Rally — Results, Top 10 (Provisional):
1. David Bogie (Dumfries) / Kevin Rae (Hawick) Mitsubishi Evo IX 33mins 58secs;
2. Euan Thorburn (Duns) / Paul Beaton (Inverness) Ford Focus WRC + 33secs;
3. Paul Benns (Cockermouth) / Daniel O'Brien (St Albans) Ford Focus WRC + 1min 51secs;
4. Bruce McCombie (Banchory) / Michael Coutts (Torphins) Subaru Impreza +2:06s;
5. Donnie Macdonald (Inverness) / Andrew Falconer (Inverness) Mitsubishi Evo IX +2:08s;
6. Stephen Lockhart (Oban) / Kevin Lockhart (Mull) Mitsubishi Evo VII + 2:22s;
7. John McClory (Strathblane) / David Hood (Elderslie) Subaru Impreza N10 +2:32s;
8. Quintin Milne (Banchory) / Martin Forrest (Aberdeen) Mitsubishi Evo IX +2:40s;
9. Alistair Inglis (Edzell) /Colin Inglis (Edzell) Mitsubishi Evo V +2:45s;
10. Dougal Brown (Inverness) / Lewis Rochford (Inverness) Mitsubishi Evo IX +2:48s.
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Jim McGill