Fresh from bagging his second maximum points haul in the Hankook Scottish Rally Championship, defending champ David Bogie faces a helter-skelter weekend.
Not only will the 22-year-old from Dumfries tackle the second round of the British Rally Championship in Carlisle on Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday he’ll make his debut in the British Rallycross Championship at Knockhill.
“Yeh, it’s going to be a bit hectic,” Bogie, who will swap his Mitsubishi Evo IX rally car for a first out behind the wheel of a Suzuki Swift in the British Rallycross championship’s new Swift Sport Challenge, admitted today.
“I’ve always had a bit of interest in rallycross and thought it was something I’d like to try so I’m very pleased to be racing in the Swift Sport Challenge, specially as the event is at Knockhill. Competing in Scotland is always a bit special.
“My schedule’s very tight because the Pirelli Tour of Cumbria, the second round of the British Rally Championship, doesn’t finish until late on Saturday afternoon. So right after I’ve got to leg it up to Knockhill. To be honest though, I can’t wait.
“I’ve not driven in rallycross before and won’t have the chance to test the car before hand so it will be straight in the deep end on Sunday morning.
“To be honest, I don’t really have high hopes of a great result and I’m hoping I can go to Knockhill and have a low stress, enjoyable day of motor port because there will be plenty of pressure in the Pirelli on Saturday.”
Bogie though won’t be the only Scots driver in action at Knockhill on Sunday.
Following a frustrating run in the first round of the British Rallycross Championship at Lydden earlier this month, fellow Dumfries racer Andy Scott is heading into the Knockhill round determined to land a good result and begin the chase of championship leader David Binks.
Scott was quick at Lydden in the season opener but ended his day in the B final for the Supercar class and out of the British championship points. The result was frustrating, but Scott drew some solace from the fact he was on the pace when his Peugeot 306 was running correctly.
“The car has been rebuilt and updated during the winter but some of things we wanted to change in the car were not done because of delays with the supply of parts, and that led to a few problems at Lydden,” he explained.
“There was no time to test the car before Lydden and it was four months since I’d last driven it, so I am pleased with the pace that’s there and I hope the changes we’ve made will make a bit more difference to the car.
“I’ve never raced at Knockhill and I think we may be at a little bit of a power disadvantage, but I’m not going there to make up the numbers; I’ve made a big effort to have a competitive car and to do be fit myself — I lost 14kgs over the winter.
“My aim is to be inside the top three of the championship at the end of the year. I’ve got some ground to make up and I’m going to Knockhill keener than ever to get a result.”
The championship leader after round one is Newcastle racer David Binks who has switched from a Mitsubishi Lancer to a Ford Fiesta ST Supercar for the 2010 season.
“I had only done a few laps in the car before the first round so I’m absolutely delighted to be leading the championship,” the Englishman explained.
“It worked out very well for me at Lydden and my plan for Knockhill is to carry on getting used to the Fiesta and to push a little bit harder each time I’m in the car at the same time as being careful to try and make sure we get through the event.
“I’ve got a useful lead in the championship but I know that the others will have sorted any problems they had at Lydden so it won’t be easy.”
JM