David Bogie and Hawick co-driver Kevin Rae increased their lead in the ARR Craib MSA Scottish Rally Championship on Saturday.
Competing on the McDonald and Munro Speyside Stages the four-times Scottish title holders notched a 17-second victory over Duns rival Euan Thorburn.
Banchory’s Quintin Milne snatched the final podium spot in his Mitsubishi EVO 9.
Thorburn, also in a Focus, and co-driven by Paul Beaton from Inverness, rued what might have been: “We came here to win, but it’s not been an easy event for us,” he said.
“We’ve had problems all day with the damper, and it’s been under-steering a fair bit. We got some time back from David during the afternoon stages and were fastest through two of them, but it wasn’t enough.
“We’ll try to keep pushing, but there are only three rounds left, so we’re running out of time.”
Jedburgh co-driver Dave Robson helped guide Aberdeen’s Dave Weston to a hard-earned fifth place behind the wheel of a Paul Benn Ford Focus WRC.
Among the 2WD competitors, Leitholm’s Kieran Renton, with Carin Logan of Kelso on the notes, took top honours in the 1600cc category in their Ford Fiesta R2. The result means the pair now lead the drivers’ and co-drivers’ standings in the class, with three rounds remaining.
Callum Atkinson from Lauder took second place in Class 3 in his Peugeot 205GTi, and also won the Ecosse 205 Challenge.