Bogie targets Speyside hat-trick

With three maximum-point hauls in the opening five rounds, the Dumfries driver heads into today's Elgin-based 45-mile event leading the overall championship by five points from veteran Andy Horne (Inverness).

"A win would be nice as no-one has ever won the Speyside three times in a row," said Bogie, who will start as top seed of the 120 entries in his Mitsubishi Evo IX, "But, at the same time, I have to keep one eye on the championship for some good points.

"I really like the stages here and the event is one of my favourites on the calendar. I'm taking nothing for granted, ecause I know there are a lot of guys determined to beat me, but I'll certainly do everything I can to get the hat-trick of wins and take another step towards the title."

Second seeds Jock Armstrong and Kirsty Riddick from Castle Douglas will be aiming to make amends following an opening-stage "off" in their Subaru Impreza on the Scottish Rally in June.

The non-finish dented their title aspirations, with Armstrong dropping to seventh in the overall drivers' standings, but he is determined to come out fighting. Armstrong said: "We have to win the remaining three rounds if we're to be in with a shout, so it's going to be all-out attack".

Mike Faulkner and co-driver Peter Foy start third in their Mitsubishi Evo 6 - the pair aiming to maintain their consistent run on the "Speyside" in recent years. They were runners-up twelve months ago, following a third place finish in 2008.

"Both David and Jock will be hard to beat but, if we want any chance of the championship this year, then we're going to have to outpace them", said Faulkner:

"The form book this year shows that whatever happens it will be decided by a handful of seconds, so we will need to make every mile count".

Competitors will tackle eight stages across just over 44 miles.