2002 Stage Times

MullMurmurs – Chapter 3

(Very) Provisional Leaderboard after SS (of 17)

1 MacKinnon/MacGilivray 12 Mins 15 Secs
2 MacKinnon/Stayte 12m 33s
3 Hall/Hall 12m 33s
4 Cope/Fagg 12m 49s
5 Harper/Campbell 13m 01s
6 Pattison/Whittaker 13m 03s
7 MacGillivray/Fraser 13m 05s
8 Pye/Falconer 13m 10s
9 Bardy/Smith 13m 12s
10 Bonniwell/Ewing 13m 20s
11 O’Donnell/O’Donell 13m 26s
12 Duffy/Duffy 13m 56s
13 Biggerstaff/Wyllie 13m 59s
14 Kirtley/Jones 13m 59s

(Note: These positions may change as more Time Cards come in)

It’s dark, wet and cold out there. It must be Mull. After five years of remarkably docile weather I suppose it had to happen, but here we are on the 40th Tunnock’s Tour of Mull Rally and it’s business as usual. The route is different this year which has had an impact on the MullMurmurs Bulletin Service. We can’t get to where we usually like to be and distribution will be even more tricky than normal. However, we’ll do our best, so please bear with us. For those of you new to the MullMurmurs operation, his highly factual and informative gossip and scandal sheet will endeavour to keep you up to date during the rally so look out for it as Bulletin Bill runs ahead of the rally distributing this free newssheet.

Anyway, this year’s event started with a bang, reverbrating around the walls of Tobermory Bay with the first of two ‘city centre special stages’ in the city of Tobermory.

At the end of that opening blast, young Paul MacKinnon said: “That was the slippiest thing I’ve seen in my life. I nearly swapped ends at the hairpin when the handbrake seized on.” Slippiness was a point echoed by Dougi Hall: “Tyres cold, wet and slippy, but it was alright.” Neil MacKinnon added: “I thought it was so slippy that at first I didn’t think the diffs were working, and then I thought it was the tyres.” John Cope summed it up: “It is what it is, a bit of fun.”

Calum Duffy was a bit more succinct: “Cheeses (or words to that effect) there was no grip at all, it was wheelspin all the way up the hill.” Daniel Harper chipped in: “It was just a b it of fun, what else on cold tyres, wet weather and wet tarmac.” Tony Bardy was expecting the test to be a bit quicker: “It was slower than I thought it would be, but there was a lot of people there.” James MacGillivray enjoyed it too. “Slippy but good fun,” he reckoned.

Tristan Pye was a bit more realistic in the new shape Impreza: “There was everything to lose and nothing to gain in those onditions but it was good fun”. Dave Miller thought it was: “Smashing, just smashing.” Doug Weir was taking it seriously but co-driver Duncan Brown was tooting the horn all the way, so much for reading the Pace Notes then!

Dave Hopwood had a last minute panic: “The battery was flat at the start. We had to get a jump start at MacKay’s Garage and did the first stage without spotlights, but we were OK for the second run.” Paul Kirtley thought: “Going through Tobermory was a real hoot.” Tugs Sherrington said: “It was so slippy it was like driving a MkII, it was sideways everywhere,” and he’s driving a Lancer.

And the best quote of the night (so far!) came from the O’Donnell twins in car 15: “It wasn’t easy passing the MacDonald Arms without going in for a pint!”

STOP PRESS: Looks like John Cressey is out on SS3 with a broken gearbox in the MINI and heartbreakingly, young John MacCrone has gone off in SS3 in the Honda Civic, and it looks as though he is out too. Also in trouble, but not quite as bad as those two is Calum Duffy. The Escort picked up a puncture and he was passed by Dougi Hall in the stage.

That’s yer lot for now,
Yer Auld Pal, Jaggy Bunnet – Friday, 10.00 pm, At the foot of Glen Aros

MullMurmurs – Chapter 7

Provisional Leaderboard after SS14 (of 17)

1 Duffy/Duffy                1 Hr 53 Mins 01 Secs
2 MacGillivray/Fraser            1h 53m 46s
3 Cope/Fagg                1h 53m 54s
4 Harper/Campbell            1h 53m 56s
5 Bardy/Smith                1h 54m 39s
6 Pye/Falconer                1h 55m 43s
7 Sisson/Stone                1h 56m 07s
8 Sinclair/Hamill            1h 57m 06s
9 Sherrington/Bould            1h 58m 04s
10 Hall/Hall                1h 58m 11s

He's been there before so often and he was there again tonight. Dougi Hall was leading this 40th Tunnock's Tour of Mull Rally, but tragedy struck, not once, but twice. The red Lancer punctured on the long 23 mile Tuath/Calgary test and then it punctured again on the Mishnish Lochs stage, and he dropped from the rally lead to 10th place. It looks very much as though this event has denied him yet again.

That however was good news for Calum Duffy who has swept into the lead with two stages to go. James MacGillivray is up to second John Cope was looking a bit dis-chuffed at the end of the Lochs “What did I do? I put slicks on for the Lochs, the wettest stage of the night!”

Daniel Harper is up to 4th now: “If I can get to the end 'll be happy. I'm sick of not getting to the end. The last two or three stages always seem to get me.”

And for those of you wondering why Stage 16 at Gribun was cancelled, it's easy to answer, but not so easy to understand why. After trouble last night with cows wandering on to the road, the farmer was contacted ahead of tonight's re-run of that stage. Despite pleas from the organisers to move his cows to higher pasture he said he was unable to guarantee that his cows would not be left to their own devices tonight again. On that basis, and on the grounds of safety, the organisers really had no choice but to cancel the stage.

And finally, an apology to those eagle-eyed viewers who spotted a slight geographical error in the previous two MullMurmurs when I mistakenly reported my location. Put it down to long hours, lack of sleep, or stupidity, but it's correct this time!

That’s yer lot for now,
Yer Auld Pal, Jaggy Bunnet – Saturday, 11.00 pm, Riverside, Tobermory