Bogie posts historic hat-trick

DEFENDING Scottish champion David Bogie has become the first driver to win the Gleaner Oil & Gas Speyside Stages Rally three times in a row.

The Dumfries driver dominated the Elgin-based event in his Mitsubishi Evo 9, winning five of the eight stages, to finish with a total time of 43 minutes 46 seconds, 50 seconds ahead of runner-up Jock Armstrong in a Subaru Impreza.

Lanarkshire's Alick Kerr, also in a Subaru, secured the final podium place, a further 21 seconds adrift.

Bogie's third consecutive Speyside victory - and his fourth maximum points haul of the season - increased his lead in the Hankook MSA Scottish Rally Championship to 16 points over Kerr, with two rounds remaining. Co-driven by Kevin Rae, who had shared his two previous wins in Elgin, Bogie said he was "over the moon" to have achieved the hat-trick.

"The main thing was to get a good score for the championship, but to get three Speyside wins in a row, something no one has done before, is a little bit special, and a huge achievement when you look at the list of previous winners.

"It was one of those rallies where everything clicked, Kevin was spot on with the notes - all in all it's been a great day."

Armstrong and navigator Kirsty Riddick had been keen to bounce back after a non- finish on the previous round in Dumfries, and the frustration of his exclusion from the Speyside results in 2009 for a Group N infringement.

The Castle Douglas pair were trailing Bogie and Rae by 20 seconds after completing the SS5 Balloch, but then lost time on the following test, the five-mile Gartly Moor, when they sustained a front-left puncture while negotiating a series of tight corners.

Despite the set-back, Armstrong was satisfied with his day's work as the leading Group N driver. "After the puncture it all came together in the afternoon and we kept a level head."