Rallying: Euan Thorburn throws down gauntlet in Jim Clark Rally

MORE than 3,000 people packed the small Berwickshire town of Duns to witness the start of the 41st Jim Clark Rally, and while they were to be delighted as the opening night reached halfway with top local hope Euan Thorburn roaring through the field, Scottish champion David Bogie was hitting trouble.

Thorburn, from Duns, with Paul Beaton from Inverness navigating, started at seventh in the event, but was up into second after the first three stages as he chased the top seed Bogie and his co-driver Kevin Rae from Jedburgh. Bogie, who leads the Dulux Trade MSA British and MSA Scottish Championships, dropped from first to third after a first stage which rallies in and around the tight, twisty streets of Duns, providing plenty of excitement for the knowledgeable Borders crowd.

In the smaller, but vastly more expensive Skoda Fabias, Jonny Greer, from Belfast, and co-driver Dai Roberts, and Irish duo Robert Barrable and Damien Connolly, enjoyed the street stage to take over the lead.

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Once out into the Berwickshire countryside, however, Bogie's Mitsubishi Evo 9 found its legs and roared back up to the top after the Bothwell stage and looked to be back on song.

However, the top three changed dramatically again after the stunning Abbey St Bathans ridges of the Lammermuir Hills.

The moves by Thorburn were attracting lots of interest as his red Mitsubishi Evo 9 began to close in on the top names and increase the Scots v Irish battle at the head of the field. Thorburn and Beaton were nine seconds off Bogie in the second stage, but nearly four ahead of Greer, and then Thorburn produced a superb time of 11 minutes and ten seconds in the third stage while Bogie hit trouble and came in a full 12 seconds back.

That also allowed Adam Gould into the battle, the Bristol driver with Skipton's Seb Marshall on the notes, stole into pole position with the fastest time of the stage, 11:04.3.

The differing tactics of Bogie and Thorburn were beginning to emerge, the Duns youngster having said beforehand: "I think this rally could be won tonight. With these twisty stages and the possibility of rain later tonight or tomorrow, I think it could be difficult to catch a leader tomorrow, so we're definitely going for it."

Bogie, intriguingly, was already looking ahead to today's ten stages. He said: "You want to do well tonight, of course, but I think it's a matter of staying in the rally tonight and winning it tomorrow. There will be a lot still to happen tomorrow but there's nothing if you're not still involved."

They both faced fresh competition from Ireland by the time they headed into the fourth stage, however, with Martin McCormack and David Moynihan coming from 16th to fourth in their Citroen DS3 R3 to set up a terrific three-nation battle at the top between England, Scotland and Ireland.

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