Bogie dominates Granite City Rallyposted in RSCOT20 | 04 | 2013
DEFENDING CHAMP DAVID BOGIE grabbed his first win of the season after dominating the latest round of the ARR Craib Scottish Rally Championship, the Aberdeen-based Coltel Granite City Rally (watch the official video with all the action).
The 25-year-old from Dumfries was fastest through four of the five stages in his new, ex-Colin McRae Ford Focus WRC car.
"The car was pretty awesome today," admitted Bogie (pictured in action today), who finished 1min 24secs ahead of the Mitsubishi of Aberdeen's Chris Collie.
"The crucial thing for me was to come out of the opening stage with a lead. That gave me the confidence to push on, and after that I feel I drove pretty well.
"I'm slowly getting to grips with the car, and today's stages really suited the raw power of the car.
"It's great to get my first win of the season, and now we can start concentrating on trying to win the title for a fifth time in a row."
But early in the day, Bogie, again co-driven by Hawick's Kevin Rae, was made to work hard for the win.
Having opened a five-second lead over the Subaru Impreza of Jock Armstrong in the first stage at Fetteresso, the Castle Douglas driver took two seconds back in the next stage at Drumtochty.
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Undaunted, Bogie then went nine-seconds faster than Armstrong in stage three at Glenfarquhar to extend the lead back to 12s.
Disappointingly, Armstrong's rally ended on the penultimate stage when the engine of his Subaru blew up.
But the day was even shorter for one of the pre-event favourites, Euan Thorburn.
The Duns-based driver, in another Focus WRC, was expected to challenge Bogie at the top of the leaderboard, but he was forced to retire midway through the opening stage when he flattened his car's exhaust.
"It's really disappointing," a gutted Thorburn admitted afterwards. "We came through a blind left-hander and it was rough on the exit.
"Unfortunately there were two big stones sitting right on the line that we were committed to, and there was no way we could avoid them. The impact wrecked the exhaust."
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Championship leader, Banchory's Quintin Milne, entered the final stage in second place, five seconds ahead of Collie, but finished the day fourth.
Just four seconds eventually covered second to fourth, with Kirtlebridge's Mike Faulkner third, one second behind Collie, and Milne a further three seconds adrift.
"I drove well through the final stage, but possibly backed off just a wee bit too much thinking about the championship," Milne said.
"I'd love to have been on the podium for my home event, but the main thing is we've scored another good haul of points in the championship."
Coltel Granite City Rally — Top 5:
1. David Bogie (Dumfries)/Kevin Rae (Hawick) Ford Focus WRC 42mins 25secs;
2. Chris Collie (Aberdeen)/Lisa Watson (Alford) Mitsubishi Evo VI +1min 24secs;
3. Mike Faulkner (Kirtlebridge)/Peter Foy (Bingley) Mitsubishi Evo IX +1:25;
4. Quintin Milne (Banchory)/Martin Forrest (Aberdeen) Mitsubishi Evo IX +1:28;
5. Barry Groundwater (Stonehaven)/Neil Shanks (Elgin) Mitsubishi Evo IX +1:42.
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Jim McGill
Photo: LindsayPhotoSport