STEWARTRY pair Jock Armstrong and Kirsty Riddick took a dramatic victory on Saturday’s RSAC Scottish Rally. The crew were 17 seconds behind leader David Bogie with just one stage remaining of the Dumfries-based event. But Bogie’s Mitsubishi Evo 9 suffered a puncture just miles from home, allowing Armstrong and Riddick through to win the fifth round of this year’s MSA Scottish Rally Championship in their Subaru Impreza. It was the first time Armstrong, from Castle Douglas, and Haugh of Urr co-driver Riddick had won their home rally. And it was also their first win in the championship since the start of last season. Dumfries’ Bogie eventually came home third, behind Kirtlebridge-based Mike Faulkner. Armstrong: “I remember doing it years and years ago and I came away 14th overall, and then I was 13th overall and I thought if I do this for the next 15 years I might win it one day! “We’ve always been there or thereabouts but it’s a perfect result for us. It’s been a good battle with three local drivers making it onto the podium and for once I’ve made it to the top step. “We’ve had mixed results this season, but hopefully this will be the start of a rolling streak and we’ll persevere and see what happens.” The result also meant Riddick was the first female competitor to win since 1961, following on from John and Anne Melvin’s success in a Sunbeam Alpine. She said: “It’s a fantastic result. Jock drove so well and was fastest through the last stage to keep Mike behind us. “We’ve gone into the last stage of this rally with a winning margin in the past and we ended up in a ditch so this was a great feeling - we’ve both wanted to win this event so much. Armstrong and Bogie battled for much of the day and they tied on the opening Ae east stage. Bogie then went one second faster on the first run through Heathhall and was five seconds up in Twiglees. The lead was up to 15.1 seconds after Castle O’er and he eked out another 2.8 seconds on the second run through Heathhall. But with a 17.4 second lead, disaster struck championship leader Bogie on the final Ae West stage as he suffered a puncture just five miles from home. Kirkgunzeon farmer Rory Young finished eighth in his Mitsubishi Evo 5 with Doug Redpath. He said: “We didn’t have an intercom on the first stage so there were some interesting hand signals between navigator and driver. “We also had a wee misfire on the third stage but other than that it’s been great fun.” It was a good day for the Castle Douglas crews that tackled the stages. Alan McMorran and Albert Connelly steered their Peugeot 205 GTi to second in class five, with Callum Bendall and co-driver John Aldridge doing the same in class two in a Ford Ka. After a lengthy lay-off from rallying, Callum’s dad Ian, with Richard Barber-Fleming on the notes, finished 60th overall in his Vauxhall Corsa. He said: “It’s been quite different from the last time we were out. There’s a hell of a lot of younger and quicker fellas in front of us but we’ve had a great day.” It wasn’t a good day for all the Stewartry crews. Billy Thomson from Castle Douglas and Jim Little from Kirkcudbright had to retire their Impreza on the final stage. And Kirsty Riddick’s sister Mairi had similar trouble reading the notes in Dumfries Iain Haining’s Vauxhall Nova. The next round of the championship will be on August 6, with crews travelling north for the Gleaner Oil and Gas Speyside Stages in Elgin. | 
