Home favourite David Bogie produced a great performance to take victory at the 2014 RSAC Scottish Rally in Dumfries on Saturday. Bogie alongside co-driver Kevin Rae in his Ford Fiesta R5+, won the Scottish Rally Championship round by just 3.5 seconds from last year’s winner Euan Thorburn from Duns. In the British Rally Championship (BRC) category Irishmen Daniel McKenna and Arthur Kierans were victorious, finishing over two minutes ahead of the field in their Citroen DS3.
‘The Scottish’ began on Friday night with an autograph session and a ceremonial start for the BRC cars before a 0.7 mile stage at Heathhall. This ‘Spectator Super Special’ provided a great oppurtunity for fans to view the cars and the elevated bank was packed with rally fans of all ages. The SRC cars began on Saturday morning and Bogie led from the outset in his brand new Fiesta. Despite a late charge from Thorburn in his Ford Focus WRC, the Dumfries driver held on to pick up the trophy, presented at Whitesands on Saturday afternoon.
Bogie was delighted by the performance of his new car which he was debuting:
“It’s always good to win the home one and especially as nobody really knew how competitive the car was going to be. It’s great to come away with the win and the points on the board.
“I’m pleased myself, I always try to pick faults with my performance and I thought today I made a few mistakes but on the whole my commitment’s been good and the way I’ve adapted to the car’s been good.
“It’s good for rallying, having such close competition and that’s what we got today with Euan driving very well.”
Thorburn who won the last round of the championship in Aberdeen, was disappointed to miss out by such small margins:
He said: “I stalled in Heathhall, didn’t get a good run through Jock’s and then got a puncture on stage 2. To lose by three and a half seconds is pretty upsetting, I’d rather lose by 30 than three.”
The BRC event also proved a close contest between the Citroens of Pryce and McKenna, before Pryce and co-driver Dale Furniss were forced to retire on the penultimate stage due to gearbox issues, giving McKenna a comfortable finish. The Irishman was pleased with the comeback win, after a fairly poor morning.
He said: “Looking back at this morning it’s mad to think I’m the winner but I’m delighted to be standing here after a long day.
“Three rounds into the championship and we’ve had two wins and a second and we’re comfortably leading so I’m once again delighted.”
In the other championships included in the event, Ross Hunter and Iain Robson were first of the BRC Challenge competitors in their Peugeot 205 while Stanley Orr and Bryan Cairns and their Mk 1 Ford Escort were first of the British Historics. Alan Paramore and Steve Partridge were the quickest of the Armed Forces crews competing in the Land Rover category.
Local driver Charles Blair finished second in the Ecosse 205 Challenge, narrowly behind Scott Peacock.
Jonathan Lord, Clerk of the Course, was appreciative of the members of the public who turned out to support the event and who made an effort to ensure they remained safe.
He said: “We were pleased to have such a successful event, and many of the competitors have taken the trouble to contact us to say they enjoyed themselves. I’d like to thank Dumfries and Galloway Council for their support, as well as all the volunteer officials and marshals for their hard work. After recent tragic events, it was pleasing that the rally passed without incident, and we’re grateful to the spectators who followed our safety advice.”
The 2014 RSAC Scottish Rally had also announced a partnership with the Dumfries community cafe “The Usual Place” which is due to open next year. The project which will help young people with additional support needs, received some of the money from programme sales and director Heather Hall was very grateful for the efforts made during the event:
“People have been very generous to us and we have probably made just under £500 from the weekend so that’s tremendous and will help purchase many resources for our young people.
“From an awareness-raising point of view it’s been fantastic, so many local people have learned about what we are doing and we’ve had lots of offers of support for our cafe.”
photo credits (c)Frank Love, www.raceandrally.co.uk
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