Bogie responds to engine failure by taking Reivers Rally

Published on Sunday 24 May 2009 23:34

TWENTY-FOUR hours after a blown engine denied him any hope of winning the Duns-based Jim Clark International Rally, Scotland's brightest young rally prospect David Bogie bounced back to win the Jim Clark Reivers Rally, the counter in the Scottish Championship.

Bogie, the 21-year-old from Dumfries who is tipped to graduate to the new Super2000 World Championship, was left disappointed when he crashed his Mitsubishi Evo X late on Friday evening in the International event, the latest round of the British Rally Championship.

Worse was to follow when, after his crew worked through the night to repair his car, its engine blew up midway through the opening stage on Saturday morning.

But yesterday, driving his GroupN Mitsubishi Evo IX, Bogie mastered the super-fast asphalt Border country lanes to clinch his first win of the season in the Scottish Championship.

"What a weekend of ups and downs," admitted Bogie who finished the eight-stage, 62-mile Reivers event 15-seconds ahead of the Subaru Impreza of Duns driver Euan Thorburn, with Oban's Willie Bonniwell third in another Subaru.

"Having to retire from the International event on Saturday morning was a major disappointment, especially having finished on the podium in the previous round in Carlisle. But this is a big pick-up for me and a huge boost for my hopes of lifting the Scottish Championship. We were steady right through today's event and it's a great way to finish the weekend."

Earlier, in the two-day International event, which was also a counter in the Irish Tarmac Championship, the drivers from across the Irish Sea filled the top-five places. Derry's Eugene Donnelly mastered the 17 stages and 150 miles in his Skoda Fabia World Rally Car to finish 23.2s ahead of the Subaru Impreza WRC of long-time leader, Meath's Tim McNulty. But with none of the Irish contingent registered for the BRC, Manxman Mark Higgins pocketed maximum points in his GpN Impreza. The former British champion, sixth overall, finished 11.4s ahead of Keith Cronin's Mitsubishi.

The young Irishman, who won the opening two rounds in Wales and Carlisle, now leads the British Championship by just two points. Thorburn bagged his best-ever British Championship finish when he brought his Subaru Impreza home fourth, and ninth overall.