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Reigning Scottish champion David Bogie, current points leader Jock Armstrong and last year's runner-up Mike Faulkner are the top three seeds for next Saturday's (March 20th) Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally.

The second round of the Hankook MSA Scottish Rally Championship has attracted a strong entry of 110 crews.

The Jedburgh-based event will be Bogie's first competitive outing of 2010, and he will use it as a "shakedown" for the Bulldog International, the opening counter of the British series, the following weekend.

The Dumfries ace, who finished runner-up on the Border Counties last year, put his Mitsubishi Evo 9 through its paces during a half-day's testing at the Sweet Lamb complex in Wales earlier this week.

“The session went really well and we'll continue to work on the settings on the Border Counties”, said Bogie: “I've not driven the car competitively since Rally Scotland last November, so it'll be great to be in action again”.

Armstrong, meanwhile, comes off the back of a dominant victory on the season- opening Arnold Clark Thistle Hotel Snowman Rally, where he mastered the treacherous conditions and finished with a winning margin of more than two and a half minutes.

Since then, Armstrong's Subaru Impreza has been "re-mapped" and consideration will also be given to suspension settings for the demanding Kielder and Border forest stages.

"We changed the front suspension settings for the Snowman and the car was turning in better, so we might look at that again, depending on the conditions ", said the Castle Douglas driver.

Mike Faulkner took a well-earned final podium spot in Inverness ("it was a case of survival") and is determined to keep up the momentum as he chases the Scottish title.

"We just want to get stuck in to maximum attack on the famous “killer Kielder” roads!", declared Faulkner, adding: "The strength of the entry means there is no room for error. We'll have to be on the pace from the word go or we could finish outside the top ten. To have that kind of entry is fantastic and just the challenge we are looking for."

Fourth seed Dave Weston Jnr will be back in action on the Border Counties as he continues to gain experience in his new Subaru Impreza N2010, in preparation for his BRC campaign.

The 19-year-old Aberdeen competitor had an impressive debut in the new car, winning the Production Cup on Rallye Sunseeker at the end of February.

Rally car preparation expert Wayne Sisson is aiming to kick-start his Hankook SRC campaign, following a day to forget on the first round, when his Evo 9 ended up stuck in snow after sliding off on the second stage.

"The plan is to finish and get some points on the board", said Carnforth-based Sisson: "The Snowman was a big disappointment, but we've got to put that behind us and crack on".

Stonehaven's Barry Groundwater will also be targeting a strong performance, after a difficult day in the Highland forests which saw him finish just inside the top 30 in his Mitsubishi Evo 9.

The SRC regular has a good record on the Border Counties, with top ten finishes in both 2008 and 2009.

For Alick Kerr, finishing runner-up on the Snowman was a "dream start" to the season, and the 21-year-old Bothwell driver, with experienced navigator Neil Shanks on the notes, is out to build on his championship challenge.

This will be Kerr's first "Borders" outing in three years: last year he was between cars in making the switch from a Ford Fiesta to his current Subaru Impreza, while in 2008 he had to sit out the event following an operation.

After being hit by five punctures and running out of spare tyres, Rory Young was more than a little surprised to end the day fourth overall on the Snowman in his Mitsubishi Evo 5.

The Dumfries farmer, currently lying second in Hankook Group N behind Armstrong, has had a run of consistent results on the Border Counties in recent years, finishing seventh in 2009, and sixth the previous two years.

Fellow GpN challenger Shaun Sinclair endured "a very frustrating" Snowman, conceding that he had suffered from poor tyre choice in the unpredictable conditions., and is aiming to getting his campaign back on track.

"We just couldn't get the tyres to work on the Snowman, and lost so much time, there was no way back", said Sinclair's co-driver Chris Hamill: "But hopefully, it'll be business as usual on the Border Counties, and we can put some pressure on the GpN front-runners".

Andy Horne rounds off the top ten starters in Jedburgh in his DAM 4100Gti – the Inverness-based driver mightily relieved with a sixth-place finish on his home event, after eight straight DNF's last season.

Having replaced the V8 engine with a V6 just prior to the event, Horne is hoping the Snowman result signals the start of a more reliable phase for his ever-popular Metro 6R4-based machine.

The Escort Mk2 contingent is led by Northern Ireland's Frank Kelly with his car fresh from a recent rebuild.

Further work, including a new 5 cylinder, 2 litre engine, is on the cards as the season progresses.

Last year, Kelly declared the Kielder stages as "being very different" to any surface he had driven on previously. He subsequently honed his "Scottish" driving style by participating in the majority of Hankook SRC rounds.

Opined Kelly: " I firmly believe that if you can go hard in Scotland, then you'll be able to go hard anywhere! It's such a challenge to keep a Mk2 on the road and still try to compete given the various levels of grip".

One driver who knows how to get the best out of the Scottish stages is fellow Mk2 maestro Steve Bannister from Malton, who finished tenth overall on the Jedburgh-based rally last year, while Duns-based Mike Horne will also be aiming for a strong showing on his home event.

Amongst the various categories, Alnwick farmer Carl Tuer will be looking for a repeat of last year's top honours in Class 4 in his MG ZR S1600, but can expect strong competition from current points leader Stewart Davidson of Aboyne in a Protron Satria, and Paisley's Alasdair Graham in a Vauxhall Corsa.

The class also includes a number of Honda Civic competitors, led by Euan Duncan, Ross Hunter and Graeme Schoneville – who, as well as chasing SRC points, will also be contesting the inaugural round of the Brick & Steel Civic Ecosse Challenge. The new format will run alongside the successful 205 series, with, amongst others, Garry Pearson, Steven Smith and Jamie Watson looking to impress in their respective "Pugs" in the Border forests.

Competitors will tackle five stages, totalling around 44 miles, in the Kielder and Wauchope forest complexes, including some sections which have not been used for several years.

After the success of last year, Rally HQ will again be based at the refurbished town hall in Jedburgh, overlooking the start/finish in Abbey Place.

The first car will be flagged off at 0830 on Saturday, with the first car due to finish around 1345.