Author Archives: Barry Whenman

Mull Full

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Less than one hour after the Beatson’s Mull Rally opened for entries, the list was full.

In fact, it only took 53 minutes to register an unprecedented 174 entries.

So overwhelming was the demand for places on Scotland’s only closed-road rally this year, the event’s mullrally.org website crashed.

The first 140 crews to register now have five days (that’s four and a bit now – the clock started ticking on Saturday morning) to pay the entry fee into the event’s very own account in Tobermory’s Clydesdale Bank.

Beatson’s Mull Rally clerk of the course Andy Jardine said: “I’m not sure what to say. Fifty-three minutes! We do all the work, get everything ready, but then at the end of the day – a couple of minutes before entries go live on the website – you inevitably think: “I wonder if anybody’ll come…”

They did. They came in their droves.

Deputy clerk of the course Iain Campbell added: “Has Coldplay ever been a sell-out in 53 minutes? Actually, if they only had 150 tickets to sell Chris [Martin] and the gang probably have.”

“But I’m not sure even Kim Kardashian has broken her website with new material as quickly as we did! It’s amazing.”

While the list of reserves for the event is already building, Jardine pointed out there’s still a chance of a run.

He added: “We’ve seen down the years that not everybody who gets an entry when they go live actually takes it up,” he said. “There will be some entries lost to broken engines, broken wallets, marriages… If the money’s not received from all 140 entries before close of play Tuesday, then we will start going down through the reserves and asking folk to join us in their place.

“This is a fantastic way for us to start the build-up for the golden anniversary of this event. We hoped we might be able to fill the entry – it took a day to fill the last one in 2016 – but this is so much more than we expected. Even though we haven’t run since 2016, it’s nice to see people haven’t forgotten us.”

*The Coldplay data might be wide of the mark

Entries Open

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Entries open for Beatson’s Mull Rally

  • 150 – Mull’s new magic number
  • Entries are go. What are you waiting for?
  • 148 of the world’s finest miles on offer between October 11-13
  • www.mullrally.org is where you should be right now

What does 150 mean to you?

It’s the number of squares on a Professor’s Cube (think Rubik’s Cube only more maddening…).

Or the number of Power Stars in Super Mario 64 DS.

And, don’t forget, it’s the bus route that goes from Bathgate to Harthill.

More important than all of that, it’s how many lucky, lucky folk will get to sit on the start line of Mishnish Lochs – just after seven on the evening of Friday October 11 – and drive as fast as they dare in the direction of Dervaig.

The only 150 that matters today are the first 150 people who get their name down for the Beatson’s Mull Rally.

The race to the rally starts right here.

Back for the first time since 2016, entries open for Beatson’s Mull Rally 2019 at 1930 today, tonight. Er… now! And they’re only are available from the website www.mullrally.org.

There’s no postage this time, the only road in is the superhighway – so you’d better be quick.

And this is going to be a special Beatson’s Mull Rally to enter. Not only are we back for the first time in three years, but this October we’ll remember the history made 50 Octobers ago when George Hill steered his Mini Cooper S away from the Mishnish Hotel on the road to a maiden victory on the inaugural Tour of Mull.

There’s a golden hue to Mull and its rally this year and we’ll pay special thanks to Brian Molyneux – the man whose brilliant foresight brought us to where we are today.

When, on that Molyneux family holiday in 1968, Brian thought about a rally around these roads, he couldn’t have known what the Beatson’s Mull Rally would grow into. Anybody doubting the popularity should drop the Mish’ a line and ask for a room in the second week in October…

Event Scotland support – along with title sponsor Beatson’s Building Supplies – is broadening the appeal of this beautiful Hebridean island and Scotland’s biggest motorsport event which sits astride it every autumn.

The entry fee is £730 for a 333-mile route, 148 of which are competitive across 17 stages and three legs.

The first 140 entries received – with the fee tucked away in the Clydesdale Bank on Tob’s Main Street within five days of a competitor registering the entry – are all guaranteed. The other 10 are at the behest of the organisers.

Entries close at 1600 on Friday October 11.

To view the route, click here.

Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally Media Office
Contact:
Sandra Evans
E: sandra@wordspr.com
T: +44 7887 693993

To land yourself one of 150 places to do this, choose “Entries” from the Competitors menu tonight!

2019 Route Published

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After two years of missing the sound of anti-lag or straight cut gearboxes or a Millington screaming up Glen Aros the Mull Rally is back. Back due to popular demand.

The new closed road legislation that was passed for Scotland in April means that the insurance clause that was causing an issue no longer applies. Mull is back, 50 years since the first one in October 1969. The one evening format from that era is replaced with by the well known itinerary of Friday night, Saturday daylight, finishing with Saturday night stages going into Sunday morning.

The 2019 edition follows the 2016 itinerary very closely. The only real difference to the competition being the omission of the short Ardtun as the opener on Saturday daytime.

Each leg is approximately 50 competitive miles. There are 5 special stages on Friday night, eight on Saturday during the day (all run at 30s intervals). Saturday night starts with the 21.5mile Long One from Calgary to Aros 33X before the remaining three special stages see the winner announced at the end of the Mishnish Lochs stage in Tobermory around 1am on Sunday.

Mull is a motorsport festival. It is a week of socialising, reconnaissance and craic before the rally begins. Once the rally begins the socialising and craic continue – just the recce is replaced by flat out motoring.

For spectators, both on the island and on line, the organisers are doing everything to get the magic of Mull to everyone. Colin Clark will be bringing live reporting from stage ends and he and David Evans will be setting up their Kitchen Table in the centre of Tobermory for on the spot analysis. And probably the odd disagreement about what driver is doing best.

There are more plans to make this comeback as memorable as possible. Many of these are still in the pipeline and will be announced over the coming months.

Entries open on 2nd August and such is the expected demand we hope to close them on 3rd August!! 150 is the maximum entry that we can start.

Aros 33X? This is the phone box just outside Salen where in the distant past the rally was more or less run from. It was here that results were called in from, where the communication centre was long before everyone had a mobile phone.

Route Details

We’re Back!

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The Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally is back

  • Normal service resumes on the Isle of Mull this October
  • Police Scotland and Argyll & Bute Council has agreed the route
  • Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally pays tribute to Transport Scotland
  • Plans for 50th anniversary celebration of rallying on Mull

Fifty years after rally cars first competed up Glen Aros, the Scottish Government has today (Wednesday, April 17) published legislation allowing Closed Road Motor Sport to take place in Scotland.

Replacing the 1990 Strathclyde Act means one thing: the Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally is back.

The organisers of Britain’s first ever closed-road rally have been working behind the scenes in readiness for this news. Thanks to that diligence and determination, the route for Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally (October 11-13) has already been approved by Police Scotland and Argyll & Bute Council.

Additional support for the rally has been applied for and granted by Event Scotland.

Friday October 11 this year marks the end of a 1,089-day wait* since John MacCrone and Stuart Loudon won the 2016 Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally. Finally, the likes of MacCrone, Duffy and Harper and 147 other lucky crews get to pit themselves against the Hebridean island’s legendary Tarmac roads.

Clerk of the course, Andy Jardine said: “The island has missed the event over the last two years, but the sport has missed it as well. Mull is such a special rally for lots of people. Our thanks to everyone at Transport Scotland for pursing this legislation and for enabling the event to come back in time for the 50th anniversary.”

“We also have to express our thanks to Duncan Brown and the Saltire Rally club for all they have done on the Targa Rally and Gravel Sprint over the last two years to keep motorsport alive on this beautiful island.”

Jardine and the rest of the Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally team have no intention of letting the golden anniversary of Britain’s foremost closed-road rally pass without celebration.

Further details of the route, entries, marshalling news and, of course, plans for a golden Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally will be coming your way.

And relax… we’re back. See you on the island.

*Mull Rally organisers were forced to cancel the 2017 and 2018 events for insurance-related reasons. The new law has clarified the position and potential liability to the satisfaction of the Mull Rally team.

Low-flying rally cars will finally be back in Hebridean airspace this October