Bogie does it again

With only one point separating the top four drivers in the championship standings: Daniel Barry, David Bogie, Richard Cathcart and Nik Elsmore, the fifth round of this year’s Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge, the Swansea Bay Rally on 19th July, is destined to produce an exciting battle for supremacy.

For the third time this season David Bogie and co-driver Kevin Rae sprayed the champagne, when they crossed the finish line of round five of the 2008 Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge, the Swansea Bay Rally – which took place on 19th July. They took the lead on stage four and had to battle right to the end, as second-placed Richard Cathcart/Martin Brady fought back in the closing stages.

The event started and finished from SA1, Swansea’s rapidly developing dock-side area and featured six-timed special stages in forests which are usually used by the Wales Rally GB. The three loops of two stages were separated by two service halts, providing the nine Evolution Challenge competitors - a figure that represented 25% of the National event’s entry - with a competitive distance of 64 miles.

With just one-point separating the top four drivers in the series standings, this event was acknowledged to be a potential turning point for championship positions and, leading up to the rally, there was eager anticipation that a battle royal was about to unfold.

At the first service halt the time sheets showed Keith Cronin leading from Bogie in second, Cathcart third, Nik Elsmore fourth and Daniel Barry in fifth, just ahead of Neil McCance who was aiming to lay the spectre of his previous Swansea Bay non-finishes to rest.

Barry went faster through SS3 than all other Evo runners by 1.1 seconds, but it all went wrong for the former championship leader in SS4 when he had to avoid an un-seen pile of logs on the inside of a corner, the consequent evasive action causing his Lancer to slam into a pile of logs on the outside of the bend. Stage four was also the end of the line for Cronin, who went wide exiting a hairpin, his Evo slipped into a ditch and, although there was no damage they were stuck fast and unable to extract the car from its muddy predicament.

At the second service halt results showed Bogie leading by 7.4 seconds ahead of Cathcart, who was reported that his car was handling strangely and was down on power due to a squashed intercooler pipe.

With his car restored to full mechanical health, Cathcart proceeded to claw back 4.1 seconds on Bogie in SS5, which meant that as they started the last stage, there was just 2.3 seconds between them.

After a flat-out charge on the sixth and final stage, Bogie posted a time 0.9 seconds faster than Cathcart and, in doing so, clinched his third Evo Challenge victory of the season by a margin of 3.2 seconds.

“With the championship so close, this was very important to have a good result on this event”, said Bogie. “I had to drive absolutely flat out on the last stage to make sure I stayed in the lead, so I’m delighted to take my third Evo Challenge victory of the season and to be leading the championship.”

Bogie now tops the Evolution Challenge tables by one point from Cathcart with two rounds left to go, the sixth and penultimate event taking place on 22nd & 23rd August, with a switch to asphalt stages and a trip to Northern Ireland for the Ulster International Rally.