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
