Video AMT & Rally of the Tests Preview

Provisional Top Ten after SS8 (of 19)

1 Neil MacKinnon/Mike Stayte (Subaru Impreza WRC) 54 Minutes 20 Seconds
2 Calum Duffy/Iain Duffy (Ford Escort Mk2) 54m 58s
3 John Cope/Tony Cope (Subaru Impreza WRC) 55m 21s
4 Paul Kirtley/David Jones (Subaru Impreza WRC) 56m 04s
5 James MacGillivray/Ian Fraser (Ford Escort Mk2) 56m 50s
6 Paul MacKinnon/Kirsty Riddick (Mitsubishi Lancer) 57m 33s
7 Denis Biggerstaff/Graham Thomson (Subaru Impreza WRC) 57m 39s
8 John Price/Caroline Price (MG Metro 6R4) 57m 41s
9 John Swinscoe/Bill Robertson (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO9) 58m 22s
10 Tony Bardy/Reg Smith (Hyundai Accent WRC) 58m 36s

(Please Note: These times are provisional pending confirmation by Rally HQ)

For a few hours early on Saturday morning the Isle of Mull fell silent as exhausted crews and red hot rally cars switched off, but not quite for the army of service crews who then had to refettle the first night’s ravages on this 37th Tunnock’s Tour of Mull.

Looking beyond the leaderboard (which we covered in the previous bulletin) it’s not only the front runners who are having fast and furious fun, although it looks as though the O’Donnell twins have joined the growing ranks of the retired. The Salen Silver Escort was spotted at the side of the road late last night … Bob Grant (52) is out, although in a rather more violent fashion. He rolled in Ardtun but when the car landed back on its feet he tried to drive on, till he was flagged down by spectators, because the rear end of the car was on fire! Fortunately it was just a wee lick of flames, but they did the sensible thing and pulled out …Geoff Wright (78) rolled out of the rally too. Something broke in the rear suspension and that was it, over and out … Another to bite the dust (or the tarmac in this case) was John Paterson (97), the Escort went ‘A’ over ‘T’ over a yump when the nose dug in on landing … Fred MacLean’s (103) suspension snapped on the Hill Road and there was no possibility of carrying on without suspension – if he had, all his teeth would have fallen out by the time he got to service … And there was sadness too for Chris Paton (36th Tour) and Dave Cabena (37th Tour) who retired the Nova at Ardtun when the diff broke … earlier on in the night, Ross Marshall (98) had the top mount on his steering column fail and it was waggling about in his lap, but alternator failure at the end of Ardtun would appear to have put him out … Dave Calvert (95) is out too. When the car slid off the road it got stuck in a ditch and they ran back to get help. By the time they had rounded up the spectators and got back to the car, it had slipped a further 150 feet down a banking into a field, all on its own! … Rick Fry’s (99) Subaru is covered with power steering fluid, but is still going … Ian Curwen (92) was off for 4 minutes at the top of the Lochs but the speccies pushed him back on … and Lyndon Barton is a worried man this morning. He lost 5th and 6th gears last night and was well on the rev limiter in fourth coming over the Lochs. So we wait to see if he-restarts at 12 Noon from Salen.

In the classes, Ian Chadwick (18) is going like a dingbat in the wee Peugeot 106, it’s like a midge on a squib darting through the night and he’s lying 18th overall well clear of 2nd in the 1600 class, Mike Storrar (38) in the Toyota powered Anglia and Chris Tooze (53) who is only 8 seconds behind Storrar in the Corsa Maxi. Top 1400 runner is Chris Woodcock (54) in the Proton Satria while Graham Muter (76) is going well too in his 1400 cc MkII. Also going well is Nicola Harper (136) in the wee Skoda. When the tow car blew its engine on the way here on Wednesday on the A66, they sent the tow car back home on the AA truck and drove the rally car to Mull! It just goes to show that it’s not only John Wayne who had ‘true grit’!

And do you know something, some of these service crews have little to occupy their times when waiting for rally cars to show up. For instance, Denis Biggerstaff’s lot made up a new sticker for the car and applied it to the rear window of the ‘Feckin Irish Whiskey’ sponsored Subaru when he wasn’t looking. The new sign reads: “Two old f*rts in a fast car.” I couldn’t have put it better myself.

And now for Leg 2, please take care out there today, park sensibly and watch responsibly. Please do as the Marshals advise and instruct and don’t delay the rally, there’s one heckuva battle brewing at the front.

That’s yer lot for now,
Yer auld pal, Jaggy Bunnet, Strongarbh, Tobermory, 11.00 am, Saturday

MullMurmurs – Chapter 5

Provisional Leaderboard after SS8 (of 19)

1 Neil MacKinnon/Daniel Barritt (Subaru Impreza WRC) 54 Minutes 35 Seconds
2 Dougi Hall/Andy Richardson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) 55m 29s
3 John Cope/Robert Fagg (Subaru Impreza WRC) 55m 58s
4 Paul Kirtley/Jim Kitson (Subaru Impreza) 56m 34s
5 Daniel Harper/Chris Campbell (BMW MINI Cooper S) 56m 51s
6 James MacGillivray/Ian Fraser (Ford Escort Mk2) 57m 03s
7 John Swinscoe/Paula Swinscoe (Mitsubishi Lancer) 57m 32s
8 Tristan Pye/Kirsty Riddick (Subaru Impreza) 58m 09s
9 Tony Bardy/Reg Smith (Hyundai Accent WRC) 58m 41s
10 John Cressey/Stan Quirk (BMW MINI Cooper S) 59m 30s

The 38th Tunnock’s Tour of Mull could be renamed ‘Things that go bump in the night’ going by recent events, after a steady start, the scenery is now taking a pounding. But let me begin with an apology. Although I had the correct order in my previous top ten leaderboard, I mis-heard some times and it must have looked like amateur gibberish, but then again, I’m getting too old to be up this late at night or early in the morning depending on your point of view.

But the big news is that Calum Duffy is out. He made it through the third stage but it would appear that his earlier ignition and alternator problems were unable to be resolved. And just when it looked like MacKinnon Jnr was going to give the ol’man a hard time, Neil turned it up a notch, just one second off his own 2004 Calgary record and equalling John Cope’s 2004 record over Mishnish Lochs. Unbeknownst to him though, son Paul was in trouble in Calgary, two punctures dropping him out of the top ten. Pressure off, but this is such a cruel sport, is it not?

It’s also an unfair sport. Despite heroic efforts to get the car ready (again) for Mull, the O’Donnell twins are out. The Escort is parked well off the road in Calgary – through a hedge! Dougi Hall has leapt into 2nd place but John Cope is still there, so too is Paul Kirtley despite a big ‘off’ in Calgary, but just look at Harper in the MINI and now Cressey is in the top ten too despite a big spin in Calgary, and another at Dervaig. John Swinscoe is pleased, he’s just gone under 7 minutes over the Lochs for the first time and Lyndon Barton is just getting back up to speed after his recent big ‘off’ in Epynt. Willie Bonniwell punctured in Gribun and had a huge spin while Stuart McQueen was in serious trouble – he nearly ran out of cigarettes. And how’s this for a bit of luck? Mike Storrar’s clutch failed at the finish of the final stage, and it was downhill all the way to the Tobermory Control, so he made it, and lives to fight another day.

Further down the entry list, Ian Ackroyd (117) is out in SS2 after a bump in which he broke his arm so he was carted off to Salen Hospital …. Alan McLaughlin (78) is out too, after he parked his car on the beach – quite a few yards from the road in Calgary ….Derek Carless (85) has retired with mechanical problems …. Andrew Smith (94) crashed in the Lochs …. and Malcolm Davey (111) is out too which is a great pity. He was dedicating this event to the memory of Howard Turner who died in Yorkshire just a couple of months back …. Louise Thomas (131) is out too, so her charity fund raising efforts won’t be as great as they could have been …. Rod Brereton (154) has parked his new Clio off the road in the second stage …. Dave Dalgleish (124) retired with either gearbox or clutch failure …. Norman MacPhail (134) is off in SS4 ….and Shug Rutherford (122) lost all his oil pressure.

Time for a tea cake, Tunnock’s of course, and bed.

Yer auld pal, Jaggy Bunnet, Tobermory, 2.30 am, Saturday

MULLMURMURSMULLMURMURSMULLMURMURS – Chapter 5

– published on the island, during the event by Jaggy Bunnet

Provisional Top Times after 8 out of 19 Special Stages: