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LinksTour of Mull - 8-10 Oct 10
Posted: October 16, 2010 9:53 PM - 9336 Hits
- In Car with Calum and Iain Duffy
- Photos
- Video Clips
- Results - Duffy's win again!
- Tunnocks Mull Rally - 40 But Not Out
- Seeded Entry List
- Entries Received
- Regulations / Details
- There will be a Rally on Mull in October 2010 !
- Club Website
Results - Duffy's win again!
Posted: October 11, 2010 7:58 PM
- Results: flyingfinish.co.uk
Mull Car Club
Tunnocks Mull Rally - 40 But Not Out
Posted: October 8, 2010 3:28 PM
This years Mull Rally is shaping up to be a corker, despite the limited time Mull Car
Club has had to get everything in place for the event. The rally will cover the usual
150 competitive miles but for 2010 there will only be one run round Calgary Bay on
Saturday afternoon which should hopefully reduce the likely hood of the rally getting
held up.
The battle at the front of the field this year will be as tough as ever with many of the
regular front running crew returning for the challenge of the Mull roads once again.
2009 winners Calum and Del Duffy took a different approach to this years event,
instead on tackling the Donegal National rally, the crew headed to the borders for the
Jim Clark National rally, netting 6th overall was a good result. For a bit of
entertainment the Escort was shipped to Ireland for the Lurgan Park stages which
resulted in a 21st overall finish. With the John Reade engined Ford Escort Mk2 now
upgraded with a flat shift system on the gearbox and the suspension tweaked for the
unique tarmac, Team Duffy is in good shape to challenge for another victory.
A new name joins them this year and makes history at the same time by being the first
driver to rally a Ford Focus WRC car on the island. Former BTRDA Champion Hugh
Hunter is now fed up of watching this gruelling event that he and navigator Andy
Marchbank decide to have a go at this years event in their Ex Colin McRae Ford
Focus WRC car and after his last tarmac outing, winning the Pendragon Stages, the
pair are ready for the Mull roads.
The famous winning Mackinnon name graces the entry list again but 12 time winner
Neil MacKinnon will be sitting out this years event. Son Paul Mackinnon once again
is joined in the John Pye Motorsport prepared Subaru Impreza by Ewan MacGillivray.
The pair retired last year with mechanical failure so this year they are on a charge to
bag another win. The crew showed great pace on the Jim Clark Reivers at the end of
May, running as high as 2nd overall before retiring.
Other crews likely to feature in the top ten are James MacGillivray and Ian Fraser,
using the Ralloy prepared Ford Escort Mk2 last year to great effect claiming second
overall. To prepare for this years event they joined the Duffy’s at Lurgan Park to dust
of the cobwebs while also tackling Rally of Argyll in a Subaru Impreza, so the crew
hope to improve on some of their times from last year. Daniel Harper and Chris
Campbell claimed their best result yet with the Mini Cooper S last year so another
years development with the car should see them being competitive again. Willie
Bonniwell and Allan MacDougall have sat out this year trying to repair the Grp A
Subaru Impreza for the rally and if the car holds together a good result will be on the
cards. Tony Bardy and Reg Smith will be delighting the crowds with the flame
spitting Nissan Sunny GTIR while Tristan Pye and Andrew Falconer have spent all
year tweaking the Subaru Impreza N15 so they can up their pace for 2010.
A Fiesta battle is shaping up between the local pair of John MacCrone and Ian
MacKenzie. John will drive the newer Ford Fiesta R2 car he has campaigned in the
British Rally Championship this year while Ian has ditched his Peugeot 106 GTI for a
Ford Fiesta ST run by Clark Motorsport. John has Uncle Peter MacCrone back in the
passengers seat for the first time this year as in the BRC he is guided by Stuart
Loudan.
The O’Donnell clan have been taking rallying quite seriously this year and this could
be a sign the team are gunning for a top result. The junior in the team Steven has been
competing in the Hankook Scottish Tarmack Rally Championship with John Fitness
beside him, using dad Eddie’s Ford Escort Mk2 the crew have had an up and down
season but they now have a freshly built Escort Mk2 for Mull. Eddie mean while has
spent most of the year supporting son Steven but did enjoy an outing on Rally of
Argyll. With his dad Eddie O’Donnell Snr in the hot seat, let the family battle
commence.
Alan Gardiner and Robin Nicolson have ditched the Ford Escort Mk2 for an
immaculate built Ford Escort Mk1, expect some entertainment from them come rain
or shine. Stuart Egglestone has bought back his old LHD Vauxhall Astra and plans on
getting reconnect with it this weekend, Brian Hodgson will rattle off the notes to keep
Egglestone right on the demanding roads. Once again the hills will be alive with the
sound of Metro 6R4s as both Reay MacKay and Steven Ronaldson will have their
cars on song during the rally.
The MacKay motorsport team are fielding two cars this year and not seeded to far
apart either so the gauntlet is down. Father Allan MacKay is back with a now
improved Mitsubishi Evo 6 while son Euan MacKay is in the Peugeot 106 codenamed
“Snowball”.
Matt Tarbutt in the immaculate Vauxhall Nova only has one goal that has eluded him
so far which is to finally get his hands on a class win.
After a roll on Mull Car Club’s other event this year the Rally of Argyll, Allan
Cameron has had the immaculate Mull Hire Subaru Impreza rebuilt and with regular
navigator Angus Williams back in the passenger seat after missing Rally of Argyll,
the crew relish the challenge of this years event. After a nasty accident on the long
one last year, Kevin Charles and Anthony Jevons are adopting the Sebastien Loeb
technique of being smooth but unlike Loeb trophies are not within their reach.
Keep up to date will all the latest information by visiting www.mullrally.com and for
live results visit www.flyingfinish.co.uk.
During the event snippets of information will be posted at
www.twitter.com/mullrallyesport
There will be a Rally on Mull in October 2010 !
Posted: March 25, 2010 2:07 PM
At a Public meeting held on Mull on Monday 15th March there was a 100% agreement to a proposal that a rally would be held in October 2010 on the island.
On the strength of this decision the Steering group unanimously agreed that Steve Davies of Dervaig Mull would be elected as Rally
Organiser.
Mull Car Club will promote the event.
Steve will be working with a team drawn from Mull Car Club, 2300 club and the Dunfermline Car Club to run a road closed event as has been run in previous years.
Posted: March 6, 2010 8:35 PM
Statement from 2300 Club:
No Tour of Mull to be Held in 2010
At a meeting on 4th March, Committee members of the 2300 Club decided unanimously that the Tour of Mull will not take place in October 2010. The decision will not be re-considered.
Enthusiasm in the Club has been hugely reduced by the serious and potentially life-threatening problems that were encountered before, during and after the 2009 event.
There exist unresolved safety issues that expose both competitors and organisers; the competitors to risks beyond the natural hazards of Mull, and the organisers to possible litigation, which seems to be the way of the world these days in the face of the most innocent of intentions.
Furthermore, the organisers have grown weary of the increasing number of negative and critical comments about their running of the event. Recent publicity has elicited huge support for the Rally, and that support is acknowledged and the Committee is very grateful for it. Sadly, it has at the same time given voice to our detractors and those who think they know better how to run the Tour of Mull.
Each member of the Committee is an unpaid volunteer, pursuing a hobby at huge cost in both time and money. The organisers make, and have always made, a massive effort to put on the very best event of which they are capable. They are proud of the fact that The Tour of Mull is very highly regarded as a motorsport and social event. There have always been problems and criticisms of one sort or another. Now the Committee’s overwhelming feeling is that the growing difficulties and increasingly bitter, often personal, confrontations have eclipsed the pleasure gained from running the Rally.
Tunnock’s, who have sponsored the Rally since 2005, fully support the Committee’s decision. As well as providing financial backing for the rally, each year they have provided the Island’s school children with items useful for their safety and comfort in addition to packs of their famous Caramel Wafers.
We will be reviewing our options for 2011 over the coming months. We will continue to present and fund the John Easson Award.
Posted: February 25, 2010 3:05 PM
The Running of the 2010 Tour of Mull is in Doubt
Statement by Neil Molyneux, Rally Chairman
The organisers left Mull in October 2009 with morale very low indeed. We had been looking forward to a bumper 40th event. Problems during the Rally and various PR issues left us wondering why on earth we were subjecting ourselves to this.
Members of the 2300 Club organise the Tour of Mull in their own time and at their own expense. What they ‘give’ is enormous in these terms and also in terms of their skill, commitment and dedication. The Tour of Mull is our hobby and we run it because we enjoy it. If the enjoyment disappears then we will stop doing it. That is the current position.
The success of the Tour of Mull over 40 years is largely due to the personality and PR skills of my late father Brian. The current organisers do their best to continue his hugely successful approach, not always with the same dexterity.
Since October our efforts have been to solve problems and pour oil on the troubled waters. A lot has been said and written and comments have been made that sabotage our work. Before passing comment, spoken, electronic or in print please consider whether you are helping or hindering us.
Another problem we face is a financial one. We faced some ‘one-off’ costs for the 40th Rally and the underlying trend is that our costs are increasing much faster than our income. The 2009 event will make a very large loss. This is up to the organisers to resolve. I mention this to counter the belief that the Rally is rich, the organisers are getting fat and we, (and Rally visitors generally), are available to be milked by anyone who spots a chance to do so.
Since we have gone public on these matters there is a swelling of support for the Rally. A decision to proceed or not will be made in early March. The only way that we can continue is with full commitment to putting on the best possible event.
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