David Bogie was again in dominant form on Saturday's Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally to take his first win on the event, and his third major victory of the season.

The reigning Scottish champion was quickest through all four Wauchope/Kielder forest stages in his Mitsubishi Evo 9 to finish with a total time of 43 minutes 33 seconds, thirty-four seconds ahead of Mike Faulkner in an Evo 6. Euan Thorburn was third, a further 34 seconds adrift, in his Evo 9.

It completed a "hat-trick" for Bogie and Hawick co-driver Kevin Rae following victories on the opening rounds of both the MSA Scottish and British championships.

The result also means that Bogie has now won each of the eight events which make up the Scottish series.

In perfect weather conditions, the defending double champions set the pace from the start on the Jedburgh-based event, which this year celebrated 10 years of support from Brick & Steel.

They were 5 seconds up on Faulkner and Peter Foy at the end of the first 7-mile Wauchope stage, with Thorburn and navigator Paul Beaton a further one second behind.

Jock Armstrong and Kirsty Riddick were fourth quickest in their Subaru Impreza, ahead of David Wilson and Dave Robson in a Mitsubishi Evo 9.

The defending champions again set the benchmark on the daunting 17-mile Broomylinn test: eleven seconds quicker than Faulkner and Foy, with Armstrong and Riddick third fastest before a broken gearstick forced them to call it a day. It was their second successive retirement on the event, following gearbox failure on the first stage last year.

Faulkner tried to keep Bogie in his sights through the third Redesdale stage, finishing the 13-miler fifteen seconds adrift, with Cumbrians Paul Benn and Richard Cooke a further seven seconds behind in their Ford Focus.

The final 6-mile Hyndlee test proved to be the tightest of the day with Bogie pipping Andy Horne and Jim Howie in their DAM 4100GTi by a single second. Faulkner/Foy were two seconds behind, while Benn/Cooke and Robbie Head/Claire Mole in an Evo 9 tied for fourth fastest time, another two seconds back.

Bogie was delighted with his second successive SRC win, which puts him five points ahead of Thorburn in the overall Scottish championship drivers' standings, with Faulkner a further point behind in third.

"It's nice to finally tick the box of a rally I've never won before", said the Dumfries ace: "We had a small overshoot on stage two, but other than that it's been a perfect day. It's a very difficult rally, with the gravel at the side of the stages punishing the smallest mistake, so we made sure we kept it clean. The new suspension on the car performed really well, and it sets us up nicely for the next round of the British championship (the Bulldog International) in two weeks time".

As the champagne was sprayed at the finish in the shadow of Jedburgh Abbey, Faulkner explained how he and co-driver Foy were lucky to be on the podium.

"We were pushing hard and had a really big moment on the final stage which could have ended our challenge, but thankfully we recovered and made it through", said the Kirtlebridge-based driver: "We just couldn't match David's pace today, but we're still on track, and will give it our all on the Granite City rally next month".

Thorburn was also satisfied with his Border Counties outing ("it's not been a bad day for us at all, but there was no catching David"), and, like Bogie, the Duns-based driver will now prepare for the BRC second round.

Fourth placed Andy Horne reckoned the dry weather suited his DAM 4100GTi. "It's been a very good day for us. The first stage was very slippery for us and we tweaked a few things on the car, but after that we just stayed consistent and it paid off".

Robbie Head marked his second SRC outing since returning to competition with a fifth-place finish - two places up on his Snowman result.

"We probably didn't have the best tyre choice on stage one, and then we had a bit of a tracking problem on the second stage, which made the car feel strange so I probably wasn't commiting as much as I could", said the Lanark-based Head: "However, after some adjustments, stages three and four went well, so it certainly shows an improvement".

For Paul Benn and Richard Cooke - who finished sixth - the Border Counties was their first SRC outing of the year, as it was for Evo 9 pilot Barry Groundwater ("it's been a good day - not bad after a long winter lay-off") who was co-driven on the day by Neil Shanks.

Donnie Macdonald from Inverness was another driver who survived a major scare before bringing his Evo 9 home in eighth overall - to add to his sixth on the Snowman. While negotiating a corner on the final stage, the car climbed a banking before coming back down and righting itself. However, the incident knocked the wind out of co-driver Keir Beaton and he was briefly unable to call the notes.

The Oban duo of Stephen and Kevin Lockhart - seeded 36th in their Mitsubishi Evo 7 - turned in an impressive performance to finish ninth overall on their first competitive outing in six months.

The top ten was rounded off by Stephen Petch and John Richardson in an Evo 9. Although not eligible for SRC points, the result made up for a non-finish in 2010.

In the 2-wheel drive category, Kielder specialist Steve Bannister was first on the road in his Mk2 Escort, and by the end of SS3 was well on the way to comfortable 2WD victory. However, the Yorkshireman made a rare error while negotiating a corner on the final stage. The Escort flipped onto its roof, before spectators managed to right the battered car and send it on its way - minus the windscreen - to complete the course.

"We both knew it was a bad corner - we'd spoken about it before we went in - but we were just carrying too much speed. I think my side took the worst of it, but we're both OK, that's the main thing", said Sutherland.

It meant the pair had to settle for second in the "historic" class behind the Mk1 of Peter Smith and Russ Langthorne.

After a long-lay off, top Northern Ireland competitor Phillip Morrow was forced to make a last minute switch from his more familiar Evo to a hired Escort, and was rewarded with a class win alongside brother Simon.

One of the most notable results of the day was a Class 2 win for 17-year-old Greg McKnight from Dumfries, who was competing on only his second rally at the wheel of his Vauxhall Nova. With dad Chris on the notes, the youngster finished 35th overall.

There were 66 finishers, from a start list of 107 crews.

The third round of the SRC is the CARS Recovery Granite City Rally in Aberdeen on the 16th of April.

News of all rounds can be found at www.scottishrallychampionship.co.uk

Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally - Top Ten results with final times:

1 David Bogie (Dumfries)/Kevin Rae (Hawick) Mitsubishi Evo 9 43 mins 33 secs

2 Mike Faulkner (Kirtlebridge)/Peter Foy (Bingley) Mitsubishi Evo 6 44.07

3 Euan Thorburn (Duns)/Paul Beaton (Inverness) Mitsubishi Evo 9 44.41

4 Andy Horne (Inverness)/Jim Howie (Kilmarnock) DAM 4100GTi 45.01

5 Robbie Head (Lanark)/Claire Mole (Paxton) Mitsubishi Evo 9 45.08

6 Paul Benn (Cockermouth)/Richard Cooke (Keswick) Ford Focus 45.24

7 Barry Groundwater (Stonehaven)/Neil Shanks (Elgin) Mitsubishi Evo 9 46.07

8 Donnie Macdonald (Inverness)/Keir Beaton (Inverness) Mitsubishi Evo 9 46.07

9 Stephen Lockhart (Oban)/Kevin Lockhart (Oban) Mitsubishi Evo 7 46.22

10 Stephen Petch (Hamsterley)/John Richardson (Northallerton) Mitsubishi Evo 9 46.43

CLASS WINNERS

Class 2 - Greg McKnight/Chris McKnight (Vauxhall Nova)
Class 3 - Iain Haining/Mairi Riddick (Vauxhall Nova)
Class 4 - Peter Taylor/Andrew Roughead (Ford Fiesta R2
Class 5 - David Cameron/Douglas Cameron (Ford Escort Mk2)
Class 6 - Peter Smith/Russ Langthorne (Ford Escort Mk1)
Class 7 - Peter Stewart/Phil Shortt (Ford Fiesta ST)
Class 8 - Phillip Morrow/Simon Morrow (Ford Escort)
Class 9 - Ken Wood/Gordon Wood (Triumph Dolomite Sprint)
Class 10 - Donnie Macdonald/Keir Beaton (Mitsubishi Evo 9)
Class 11 - Jim Carty/Ian Fraser (Subaru Impreza WRC)
Class 12 - Paul Benn/Richard Cooke (Ford Focus)

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Robin Wyllie - SRC Media