The Son Shines on Mull - Event Report
Posted: October 19, 2008 7:19 PM
For the 13th year the Tour of Mull Rally sees the MacKinnon name at the top of the time sheets at the end of the rally but this year Neil MacKinnon’s son Paul has clinched his maiden win. Subaru Impreza driver Paul had a close fight with Calum Duffy in a Ford Escort Mk2 all the way to the end with the winning margin only 9 seconds at the finish at the New Harbour Association building in Tobermory.
The 39th Tunnocks Tour of Mull started with Boyd Tunnock flagging the 150 competitors away from the start ramp in Tobermory. This year saw the return of the Glen Aros/Hill Road stage as the first stage on Friday night; this provided an immediate challenge for both crew and machine. Quickest out of the blocks was Car 5 of Paul Mackinnon/Daniel Barritt setting the fastest time on SS1 by 7 seconds over Calum Duffy/Iain Duffy with Dougi Hall/Steven Clark in third place. Early favourite Neil MacKinnon/Mike Stayte endured a terrible rally, lying nearly last after SS1 then setting 2nd fastest time on SS2 behind son Paul, Neil’s McKinstry Motorsport hired WRC Impreza hit oil temperature problems which would put him out on SS3. After the opening 3 stages Paul Mackinnon had a 21 second lead over Calum Duffy who was struggling to keep tyres on the mighty escort. Daniel Harper/Chris Campbell in the BMW Mini had made there way up to 3rd overall. James MacGillivray/Ian Fraser struggled with the rear of their Ford Escort Mk2 being too soft while Tristan Pye/Kirsty Riddick had been off the road on the new tarmac on SS1 in their Subaru Impreza. Paul increased his lead on SS4 to 24 seconds Calum but was to lose 9 seconds over the final 2 stages of Friday night with power steering problems leaving the gap between 1st and 2nd now 15 second at the end of leg 1 with 11 stages still to go. Daniel Harper still maintained his 3rd place after SS6 while Tristan Pye was on a wildlife expedition more than a rally, first seeing an Otter cross the road in front of him then spotting a deer later on, ending the night 8th overall. Dougi Hall would end the night park in a ditch after setting some quick times early on. Dougi’s son young Kris Hall would set the night stages alight bringing the wee Ford Fiesta ST to the overnight halt in 5th place.
At the start of the leg 2 the sun was beaming down on the Isle of Mull and Paul MacKinnon used the dry conditions to his advantage by carrying on from where he left off on Friday night. MacKinnon blasted up the Loch Tuath stage to increase the lead over Duffy to 17 seconds. Daniel Harper maintained his 3rd position overall. The 2 passes of the Calgary loop saw Neil MacKinnon’s stage record being broken by son Paul and the gap to 2nd place increase again to 24 seconds; Paul commented “I’m just taking it steady”. Calum struggled even more with tyres in the warmer day time conditions and was hoping to claw some time back on the cooler night time stages. Daniel Harper hit problems in the Mini, a bad misfire meant he had to nurse the car through the last stage and dropped from 3rd to 6th place overall. James MacGillivray benefitted from Harper’s problems which moved him up to 3rd overall. Stages 10/11/12 would see little change to the top 10, Paul now holding a 25 second lead going into the final leg. Willie Bonniewell moved up to 3rd overall during the days final 3 stages while James MacGillivray slipped to 4th but geared up for a big push during the night. Dougi Hall/Steven Clark bounced back from their problems on the opening leg to win the Saturday afternoon Trophy rally by 32 seconds, 2nd was Lewis Gallagher/Bill Robertson in the Peugeot 205 GTI while Dave Thwaites/Tony Walker in the gorgeous Ford Escort Mk2 came 3rd.
Back into the night and there was no let up in the charge from either of the top 2 crews. Paul and Calum went hell for leather up the famous 22mile Loch Tuath/Calgary stage both besting 12 time winner Neil MacKinnon’s stage record. Paul beat the record by 20 seconds setting a time of 20 minutes and 4 seconds while Calum was 8 seconds slower and still suffering with tyre problems even in the cooler conditions. John Cope/Rob Fagg’s rally came to an end on the 22 mile stage; the car slid off the road and could not get back on. At the service halt after SS14 Paul’s lead was now up to 40 seconds with 3 stages to go, Willie Bonniwell still held 3rd place despite a scare at the start of leg 3 when his Subaru Impreza won’t start but a quick change of the plugs meant he started on time. James MacGillivray in 4th place and many others report the stages to be very slippy making life difficult in the dark.
Paul and Calum took a steady run through the next 2 stages trading times to enter the last stage only 38 seconds apart. James and Willie held there positions 3rd and 4th respectively. Tristan Pye/Kirsty Riddick moved up from 8th place to 5th despite a bad landing over one of the many mull jumps. Entering the last stage there was no sign of either of the top 2 backing off which provided a great last stages buzz, a puncture or off could hamper either crews chance of victory. With both men giving it their all Paul was to run into trouble, hitting a patch of mud 2 miles into the final stage and locking up the brakes cause the Subaru Impreza to leave the road. Paul didn’t give up, he locked the diffs and selected reverse and luckily returning to the road, now he had to go flat out to the finish to keep his dream alive of winning the Tour of Mull. Paul could see Calum’s lights as he turn right at the Dervaig junction to head down the Glen road. At the end Paul lost 29 seconds on the last stage to Calum but wheeled the battered Subaru over the finish line in Tobermory to win the 39th Tunnocks Tour of Mull rally by just 9 seconds to the hard charging escort pilot of Calum Duffy. Willie Bonniewell held 3rd place through the closing stage of the rally to complete a local 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
Alan Kirby/Colin Burly won the Saturday night Trophy rally in their Subaru Impreza beating Dave Thwaites/Tony Walker in the Ford Escort Mk2 by 43 seconds. John Easson Scholarship winner Phil Scholes/Jamie Foster came 3rd in the Peugeot 205 GTI sporting the gold numbers for winning the scholarship.
Local Crew Round Up:
• Iain MacKenzie/Angus MacKenzie finished a fine 11th overall and 1st in Class
B.
• Eddie O’Donnell/Simon Proud finished 12th overall and won the Best Scottish crew award.
• John MacCrone/Peter MacCrone finished 13th overall, came 2nd in Class B, won the Best Mull crew award and Best Entertainer award.
• Cameron MacLean/Alastair Fraser finished 14th overall.
• Angus Mathieson/Marion Mathieson finished 16th overall.
• Allan Cameron/Angus Williams finished 36th overall.
• Lorn MacFadyen/Chris Pedley finished 43rd overall.
• Donald Brown/Alec Brown finished 45th overall and 2nd in Class A
Stephen Thompson/Rhoda MacKinnon finished 47th overall and 3rd in Class A.
• Stephen Lockhart/Kevin Lockhart finished 60th overall.
• Norman MacPhail/Neil MacVicar finished 61st overall.
• Iain “Fuey the Fireman” Noble/Alan Noble finished 63rd overall.
• Duggie Ingram/Olum MacCrone finished 69th overall.
• Mathew Fisher/Craig Fisher finished 72nd overall.
Full Results and times
Posted: October 19, 2008 7:15 PM
1 Paul MacKinnon/Daniel Barritt Subaru Impreza WRX
2 Calum Duffy/Iain Duffy Ford Escort Mk2
3 Willie Bonniwell/Kevin Rae Subaru Impreza
4 James MacGillivray/Ian Fraser Ford Escort Mk2
5 Tristan Pye/Kirsty Riddick Subaru Impreza N11
6 Kris Hall/Richard Millener Ford Fiesta S.T
7 Tony Bardy/Reg Smith Nissan Sunny GTI R
8 David Miller/Andrew Bailey Subaru Impreza
9 Tugs Sherrington/Sam Bould Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4
10 Wayne Sisson/Daniel Stone Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
Class A – Alan McLaughlin/Paul Beaton Ford Puma Kitcar
Class B – Iain MacKenzie/Angus MacKenzie Peugeot 106 Cup Car
Class C – Kris Hall/Richard Millener Ford Fiesta ST
Class D – Tony Bardy/Reg Smith Nissan Sunny GTI R
First Group N – Wayne Sisson/Daniel Stone Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9
Entry List
Posted: October 6, 2008 10:39 AM
Details
Posted: January 28, 2008 10:43 PM
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