Recently crown British and Scottish Rally champion David Bogie says running first on the road on the opening day of his home Intercontinental Rally Challenge round, the Rally of Scotland, is more of a pleasure than a hindrance.
Bogie currently holds 10th overall in his Group N Mitsubishi, just six seconds behind former Pirelli Star Driver Jarkko Nikara, who leads the Production Cup standings in a similar car.
"There's great support out there this morning, everybody's waving the flags and cheering – it's been fantastic," said Bogie. "Running first on the road in front of all of these guys is a real privilege."
After his double title-winning season, Bogie admitted he was pleased to come to an event without having to think about bagging more points.
"I've tried not to put too much pressure on myself for this event," he said. "I really want a result here, but I'm not thinking about it too much, just driving the car. Everything has worked well so far, but I've got to stay on the road - I'd be pretty depressed if I was sitting at home watching it on the television tomorrow..."
The highly rated Nikara enjoyed a trouble-free morning similar to Bogie's. His only gripe was the rough nature of the roads.
"The fourth stage was tough," said the Finn. "I don't remember it being so bad as this before. I'm not pushing too hard because I don't want to break the car, but we want to win the class as well."