‘McRae’ promises thrilling season finale

David Bogie and co-driver Kevin Rae may have claimed the overall Scottish title for a second year, but there is still plenty at stake on Saturday’s final round of the Hankook MSA Scottish Rally Championship.

As well as confirming second and third in the series, the Colin McRae Forest Stages will see the conclusion of a number of prized categories – including Group N, the Scottish Junior Championship, and the Red Bull Junior Challenge.

Smith maintains strong position

The Steven Smith Rallying team completed the Hankook Merrick Stages last weekend, maintaining their lead in the 205 championship and strong position in each of the Scottish Rally Championship categories.

The rally’s first stage was the talking point of the weekend, with an 18.6 mile run through the famous Glentrool complex. With nearly half the rally in one stage the team knew that a good time in this stage would be the key to a good result.

Bogie bags Scottish rally title no.2

David Bogie put the seal on a “perfect season” by winning Saturday’s Hankook Merrick Stages Rally and his second Scottish championship.

In the end the advantage was just five seconds over a hard-charging Jock Armstrong, who dominated the Galloway forest event last year.

Hankook Merrick Stages

The Brick and Steel Ecosse Challenge heads to Galloway this coming weekend for the Hankook Merrick Stages, the sixth round in the one-make rally championships. The Merrick takes place in the famous forests of Glentrool on Saturday 4 September, with the title races in both the Civic Ecosse Challenge and the 205 Ecosse Challenge still wide open.

Things are really hotting up in the Civic Challenge. Duncan Campbell became the fourth different winner in five rounds when he took the honours on the Speyside Stages at the start of August, however Glasgow two-wheel drive expert Grant Inglis still leads the way as the series heads to south-west Scotland.

First stage key to Merrick Success

The 100 crews competing in Saturday’s Hankook Merrick Stages Rally will need to be “in the groove”  from the start as they tackle a daunting opening test of nearly 19 miles.

The monster Glentrool stage will be key to deciding the outcome of the seventh and penultimate round of the Hankook MSA Scottish Rally Championship.

SRC moves to ensure ‘close competition’

The organisers of the Hankook MSA Scottish Rally Championship have announced revised technical regulations designed to ensure the popular series remains attractive to the widest possible range of competitors.

From next season, the series will restrict the level of technology in cars eligible to score championship points.

The aim is to limit the performance advantage which can be gained by cars using technology designed for the highest level within the World Rally Championship.

Solid second on Speyside

A solid second place on last weekends Gleaner Speyside stages maintains the Steven Smith Rally team’s lead at the top of the championship standings. Despite several problems with the car the pairing of Steven Smith and Russell Fair managed to secure second place in both the Ecosse Challenge and the competitive class 3 of the Scottish Rally Championship.

Speyside ‘Hat Trick’ edges Bogie closer to second title

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 ace 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,  fifty seconds ahead of runner-up Jock Armstrong in a Subaru Impreza.

Garry aims to bounce back on Speyside

Duns teenager Garry Pearson is hoping to end his recent run of bad luck when he takes to the forests of Moray on this weekend’s Gleaner Oil and Gas Speyside Stages, which runs out of Elgin on Saturday 7 August. Garry is still in contention for honours in both the Hankook MSA Scottish Rally Championship and the Brick and Steel 205 Ecosse Challenge, but knows he needs a strong result to greatly boost his chances.

Bogie targets ‘Hat Trick’ as title chase revs up

After a six-week summer break, the contest for the 2010 Hankook MSA Scottish Rally Championship resumes in the forests of Morayshire next Saturday (August 7th).

The Gleaner Oil & Gas Speyside Stages has attracted a top-class entry of more than 120 crews.

As the sixth of eight rounds,  the Elgin-based rally is a key event in the countdown to the final championship placings.