Once again it is that time of year when an illness starts doing the rounds, not man flu but Rally Fever and the only cure is a trip to a small Scottish island for "The Best Rally in the World" the Mull Rally. What started out as a daft idea in 1969 for having some fun has now transformed into an annual adventure for many people all across the world.
The 2013 edition of the Mull Rally has gone through a period of fine tuning to try and spice the evnt up a bit and bring a few new challenges to the table. First off the rally will Start from Tobermory and the crews will head towards Salen before turning now the Glen Road where Stage 1 and 2 will start, stage 1 will take the crews down the glen to Dervaig where crews will turn right and power over the Mishnish Lochs towards Tobermory. For stage 2 the crews head back down the glen road but this time turn left at Dervaig then taken on the challenge of the Hill Road and finish the stage by thundering down Loch Tuath. The other change for this year is the Saturday day time loop has been increase to give the competitors more daylight running which has been a welcomed move by many.
With a field of 114 competitors taking to the start in Tobermory on 11th October, there will be some epic battles brewing come the end of the 1st leg. The main contenders for victory this year are both local drivers from Dervaig both driving cars dispalying the Ford oval but in total different machines. Last years winner and the expereinced one in this battle is Calum Duffy piloting a Ford Escort Mk2 with his brother Ian along side shouting the notes, this pair will be favourites for another win. Trying to upset the Duffy party will be youngester John MacCrone who has got himself a Ford Fiesta S2400 car from Malcolm Wilson's M-Sport for the weekend and will have current WRC2 navigator Stuart Loudon on the notes again, a man rally fresh from calling notes for Robert Barrable on Rally France. Behind these two there is a queue of people looking to spoil the party, Tony Bardy will have the flame spitting Nissan Sunny GTiR geared for a fight providing the mechanical gremlins stay away, the Subaru Impreza WRC of John Cope will be hoping his luck is in this year, paired with rally winner Rob Fagg the spoils could be theirs come Sunday. Previous winner James MacGillivray just needs his Ford Escort Mk2 to run faultlessly this year as last year mechanical issues put paid to his rally early on, Mini expert Daniel Harper has been away modifing the little Mini Cooper S sausage tin to try and get closer to the front runners, come friday night Daniel will have a fair idea if the latest evolution of the Mini is an improvement. Mr flamboyant Eddie O'Donnell jnr will have the Ford Escort Mk2 dancing about for the crowds, expect his pace to be near the top if he is blessed with a clean run.
A few new faces have decided to get a piece of the action this year, Andrew Fenwick has an Ex Works Hyundai Accent WRC at his disposal for his trip to the island and fitted to the front of the Accent will be the latest in spotlight technology, laser lamp led lamps which claim to 25% brighter than conventional lamps this should come in hand for the 100 miles of night stages. Tarmac expert David Mann will be a dark horse, with his expreience of winning on the Isle of Man over the years standing him in good stead, the roads on Mull should be no problem. Further down the field John Rintoul has swapped his 4wd turbo armchair Evo for a Skoda Fabia R2 2wd pocket rocket which will keep him on his toes over the weekend. After the disappointment of last year, Allan Cameron will be just wanting a steady run to the finish, recently shaking the Subaru Impreza down on the Pendragon Stages the feeling is good with the car and navigator Angus Williams has had a recent trip to the Isle of Man to get match fit so preparations have been positive. Back for their 3rd outing are the Cooks, father and son team Richard and Edwin Cook from Lamplugh are fired up for a crack at the Group N award in the Subaru Impreza N10.
To keep up to date with all the news over the weekend vist www.mullrally.com or www.johnfife.co.uk. Once again the guys at iRally will be covering the event with reports coming from stage ends over the weekend to keep followers informed with all the action.
