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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 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