Luke and Ifan impress on the Nicky Grist Stages

Photography by JCCB Rally Photography

As test days go, Luke Constantine and Ifan Devine’s outing on the Nicky Grist Stages was almost perfect.

Using the event as an runout for next month’s BRC Grampian Rally, the pair came away with a brilliant class win, top FWD car, second 2WD, and 17th overall.

“We are really seeing some progress in the new car now. Another step further forward in my development in driving the car but also in learning how to use the equipment we have to play with.” said Luke.

“Following the first two stages we were sitting in 13th overall, unfortunately the next stage got cancelled due to a cattle grid getting destroyed.

“Consequently, we received a notional time as we ran through the stage non competitively.

“Sadly, our immediate competition which was seeded 40 cars ahead of us on the road managed to set a time and we lost about 20 seconds.”

“We set off after service in 20th but managed to pull it back to 17th by the finish.
“We’re not too disappointed though, these things can happen in rallying.

And Luke paid tribute to the contribution of his co-driver.
He said: “As always, Ifan was superb reading the book, as well as keeping me calm and us on the road.”

Published October 10, 2009

2009 – Murmur Chapter 8

MullMurmurs – Chapter 8

Provisional Leaderboard after SS17 (of 17)

1 Duffy/Duffy                2 Hr 09 Mins 25 Secs
2 MacGillivray/Fraser            2h 10m 30s
3 Harper/Campbell            2h 11m 05s
4 Cope/Fagg                2h 11m 18s
5 Bardy/Smith                2h 11m 38s
6 Pye/Falconer                2h 12m 50s
7 Sinclair/Hamill            2h 14m 31s
8 Hall/Hall                2h 14m 58s
9 Sisson/Stone                2h 15m 39s
10 Sherrington/Bould            2h 15m 49s

There was just no stopping Calum and Iain Duffy tonight. They were not to be denied their 5th win on this 40th Tunnock's Tour of Mull Rally. Over the final two stages Duffy led from the front consolidating and extending his winning margin to just over a minute from James MacGillivray and Ian Fraser.

John Cope was holding third place going into those final rain dampened stretches of tarmac, which weren't exactly wet, more greasy was the feel. In other words, it was uncertain underfoot, or more precisely, treacherous undertyre. Cope picked his pace and made his choice: “I had 3 on Harper going into that last one, I wasn't going to try any harder.” Daniel was in two minds. Finish, or go for it. He did both.

Tony Bardy scored a remarkable 5th in the Nissan while Tristan Pye earned the Group N win with 6th place as Wayne Sisson dropped back into the clutches of Shaun Sinclair, the number 50 seed who finished in 7th place ahead of the hard charging Dougi Hall, demoting Sisson to 9th.

At the finish, Dougi looked quite resigned to his fate. “Yes, I've led the rally a couple of times in the past but I've been lying second more often, before trouble struck. That's rallying, eh?” If it hadn't been for those two punctures, who knows? Duffy was closing, but Hall is a fighter, as he showed battling back to finish 8th.

Rounding off the top ten was Tugs Sherrington after two nights and one afternoon of high drama and even higher excitement.

But they were the lucky ones. Paul MacKinnon went off while leading. Neil MacKinnon crashed while in contention, Willie Bonniwell retired with gearbox failure and Dave Pattison called it a day after fuel pump troubles and finally a worsening gearbox.

And just outside the top ten there were a few more surprises. Iain MacKenzie won the 1600 class with 14th place and Andy Knight took the 1400 class with 16th place and Stevie Brown was on course for a result till fate intervened and the Fiesta went for walk on the beach at Scridain.

As ever, the Tunnock's Tour served up a feast of surprises and shocks, heroes and heroines, and a healthy dose of drama and disaster, but that's what makes this the 'Best rally in the World.”

Note: A full report will be served up in the final issue of the 2009 MullMurmurs sometime on Sunday – now I'm off for a Tunnock's pie and my bed.

That’s yer lot for now,
Yer Auld Pal, Jaggy Bunnet
Sunday, 3.00 am, The Sea Life Visitor Centre, Tobermory

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