2008 – Murmur Chapter 4

1 P MacKinnon/D Barritt (Subaru Impreza) 22m 35s
2 C Duffy/I Duffy (Ford Escort MkII) 23m 02s
3 D Hall/S Clark (Mitsubishi Lancer) 23m 15s
4 D Harper/C Campbell (BMW MINI) 24m 01s
5 K Hall/R Millener (Ford Fiesta) 23m 56s
6 J MacGillivray/I Frazer (Ford Escort MkII) 24m 02s
7 J Cope/R Fagg (Subaru Impreza) 24m 16s
8 W Bonniwell/K Rae (Subaru Impreza) 24. 26s
9 T Pye/K Riddick (Subaru Impreza) 24m 37s
10 E O’Donnell/S Proud (Ford Escort MkII) 24m 44s

The 39th Tunnock’s Tour of Mull is serving up a feast of fearsome and fastidious delights, but not everyone is enjoying them. John Marshall had a puncture on the first stage of the night so that set him back, plus the Subaru has all Mark Higgins’ settings, and John is no Mark Higgins, apparently! Tommi Graham had a turbo pipe come off and the Lancer barely made it through the 2nd and 3rd tests overboosting all the way. Martin Healer had no intercom on the first one and only half an intercom on the 2nd. From Dervaig onwards Ian Colman had no brakes. A pipe had come off but it was fixed at service. Gribun, with no brakes? No thanks. Billy Bird reckons his new Astra is “the most horrendous thing I’ve ever driven”. John Morrison caught cars on the first two otherwise OK. Chris Tooze punctured on the first one and had to stop, then the jack kept sinking in the mud. After replacing the wheel he jumped in the car and drove off then pulled over when he saw headlights in the mirror – but it wasn’t a following car, he was still wearing his head torch. Doh! Giles Brooksbank had an alternator problem at the end of SS1 and did the next two on sidelights. When Chris Woodcock’s Lancer gets hot it starts misfiring badly. He put new plugs in at Craignure, so fingers crossed. Full marks to Jim McKenna for observation “it’s dark so it is, it’s hard to beat the daylight – and Dervaig bridge needs to be widened!” Alan Gardiner lost 40 seconds on the startline of the first stage, when the Marshals had to push Dave Thwaites stricken car off the stage! Poor Dave, he didn’t even get it mucky. Gerry Cassidy is suffering fuel starvation in the G3. Paul Miller was still buzzing, he got it into 5th gear in Loch Scridain and he was also in a ditch on the Hill Road but got away with it – this time. Stevie Brown had the Fiesta cut out on him over a yump and lost time when it wouldn’t re-start and then had a brake problem over the next two. Ian Woodward knocked his back box off on Scridain but fitted a spare at Craignure before the bizzies noticed!

It looks as though John Cressey is out, he was spotted parked up and Mike Storrar has put the Anglia off. He went straight on instead of going round a corner!

Yer Auld Pal, Jaggy Bunnet – Friday, Gone midnight, Salen Hotel.