‘Make or break’ Rally Championship

Aug 8 2008 by Our Correspondent, Dumfries Standard Friday

THE BATTLE for the 2008 County Saab MSA Scottish Rally Championship reaches a critical point on Saturday as local competitors head north to Morayshire after a six-week break.

The Gleaner Oil & Gas Speyside Stages rally – based in Elgin – is the sixth of eight championship rounds and, with time running out, drivers and co-drivers will be aiming for strong finishes.

They include Kirkgunzeon farmer Rory Young, who has put in some consistent performances at the wheel of his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5 and currently lies fourth in the championship.

Young has notched up top-ten finishes on all but the Jim Clark Reivers rally this year, and now finds himself in a tight four-way battle for Group N honours with John Morrison (Evo 9), Barry Groundwater (Evo 9), and the current class leader – Dumfries-born Steven Clark.

“Things are going really well and the car is ready for the big day,” said Young, adding: “ I'll be back with regular navigator Allan Cathers after his break from the “Scottish”.

For the past three weeks, Clark - now based in Elgin – has been taking part in a gruelling 5000-plus mile charity drive to Cameroon, accompanied by brother-in-law Mike Viola, who teaches at Dumfries Academy.

Before setting out, Clark was as concerned about making it back in time for his home rally, as he was about the dangers that lay ahead on the journey.

The importance of the “Speyside” was summed up by Clark's team-mate Mike Faulkner of Gretna, who, with navigator Peter Foy, currently lies fifth in the points in his Group A Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6.

Said Faulkner: “This is a critical event for us - a good result will set us up for a battle over the last two rounds for top three in the championship, whereas a poor result now would make it an uphill battle - so it's maximum attack, and see what happens”.

“Maximum attack” is also the game-plan for second seed, Dumfries star David Bogie as he attempts to chase down championship leader Jimmy Girvan of Inverness, who will again have Kirsty Riddick of Haugh of Urr on the notes.

With the championship decided on the six best scores out of eight, the pressure is on both drivers – but in particular the Dumfries man, who MUST take full points from the next two rounds if the championship fight is to go to the wire.

So far, both men have taken two maximum points scores each, but Girvan has been the more consistent, never finishing out of the top three, and currently has a 52 point lead over his young rival.

However, once dropped scores are taken into account, the lead is whittled down to only two points, with three rounds remaining.

Girvan has two higher points scores to drop, compared to Bogie, who has not finished every rally, after a disappointing first half to the season.

It was all the more frustrating for the Dumfries driver – who turned 21 last week - in that he was consistently achieving fastest stage times before the problems struck.

Determined to turn his fortunes around, Bogie, and navigator Kevin Rae, stormed back into contention on the Dumfries-based “RSAC Scottish” at the end of June.

Had it not been for a doubtful tyre choice, Bogie might well have beaten former champion, and last year's Speyside winner, Dave Weston, to outright victory.

In the event, Bogie was more than happy with his second-place finish, and maximum SRC points, which moved him up to sixth in the championship.

He knows he has to be at the top of his game on Saturday: “I need maximum points on the Speyside, then the same again on the Merrick Stages - that would leave me favourite for the championship on the final round, the McRae Stages”.

Bogie will also have the opportunity of locking horns once again with non-SRC registered Weston – the latter fresh from his win on the Swansea Bay rally, while Bogie took top honours on the same event in the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge, which he now leads by one point.

Further down the field, Newton Stewart's Craig McMiken will be back in action in his newly-acquired Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, with co-driver Christine Sanderson of Berwick.

The local farmer will be going all out to better his 17th place finish on the “Scottish”.

The Dumfries crew of Steven Hogg and Phil Shortt only signed up for the SRC prior to the Jim Clark round, and went on to record an impressive sixth overall in the Reivers rally.

However, they were unable to build on the achievement last time out on their home event, when they were forced to retire their Subaru Impreza with mechanical problems.

The same was true of Newton Stewart's Mark McCulloch who had to pull out with driveshaft failure on his Peugeot 205 Gti after setting the early pace in the Ecosse 205 Challenge. In the event, Mark surrendered the lead of the keenly-fought series, and will be out to make amends on Saturday.

Callum Bendall and Jim Haugh of Castle Douglas were another local crew who suffered on the “Scottish” – their Ford Ka ending up in a ditch – but they still lead Class 2.

Meanwhile, Ian Bendall and Richard Barbar-Fleming - who did not compete on the last round - are entered for the Speyside in their Vauxhall Corsa.

Well over 100 cars will line up for the start of the “Speyside”, which features eight stages, including two runs on the tarmac through Cooper Park in the centre of Elgin, with the remainder taking place in the forests to the east of the town.

The penultimate round of the Scottish Championship is the Merrick Forest Stages Rally – based in Newton Stewart – on September 6 , with the Perth-based McRae Stages three weeks later.