Sarah Everitt, the partner of Andy Mort — the co-driver tragically killed today in the fatal accident on the Mull Rally — has requested his life should be marked by going ahead with the Celebration Walk, which traditionally marks the end of the rally, today (Sunday, October 11).

Andy (47), died yesterday in an incident on SS7 when his car, driven by John MacCrone, crashed into a field. MacCrone (26), who won the event in 2013, is currently in hospital in Glasgow after suffering serious injuries. Both competitors are from Dervaig.

It will be an emotional gathering for the 3000 residents of the close-knit Inner Hebridean island. The population is further swelled by members of the 150 crews who started the rally on Friday evening, and the thousands of people who flock to support the annual iconic event.

The walk, which will also reflect on the death of 41-year-old Chris Lawson, from Otley — the driver of Car 130, who died suddenly on the island on Monday — will start at 2.30pm.

Starting at the Aros Hall in Tobermory, the walk — also supported by the family of John MacCrone and led by three rally cars — will end at Ledaig.

It is with deep regret, that the organisers of the Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally can confirm that there was a fatality on today’s second stage, the seventh of the rally.

The co-driver of Car 2, Andrew Mort (47), was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident by paramedics. His family have been informed.

Driver, John MacCrone, aged 26, was airlifted to a hospital in Glasgow to receive treatment for serious injuries. Both men are from Dervaig on the island of Mull.

No one else was was involved in the incident.

The event organisers and relevant authorities are working closely with Police Scotland to establish precisely what happened.

The organisers of the event are deeply saddened by this tragic incident and send their condolences to the family and friends of the co-driver, and offer their best wishes to the driver for a full recovery.

Road policing officers have begun an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the incident. Sergeant Archie McGuire of Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Divisional Road Policing Unit, who is leading the inquiry, said today: “For the spectators and participants of the annual Mull Rally, this has been a desperately saddening event. We are working closely with the event organisers in investigating the incident. Specialist officers are at the scene and have begun the process of determining the circumstances which have led to this crash.”

“We thank those who have been in contact with police at the scene to pass on information and to give statements. We would ask for anyone else who has not yet given a statement to contact officers at the Road Policing Unit at Dumbarton on the 101 number. We would be grateful to receive any mobile phone footage that spectators may have as part of our ongoing enquiries.”

OFFICIAL STATEMENT:

BEATSON’S MULL RALLY UPDATE

Due to a fatality on SS7 today, the decision has been taken by both the organisers of the Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally and Police Scotland to abandon the event.

A further update will be made once more information becomes available.

DUFFY THROWS DOWN THE GAUNTLET

Dervaig’s Calum Duffy ended the opening Leg of the 46th running of the Beatson’s Mull Rally by sending out a dominant message in the evening’s final stage, the 19.92-miler at Calgary Bay/Glen Aros.
The eight-time winner — who won the opening stage by 6s from Daniel Harper — finished 14s quicker than the Mini driver from Barley to establish a healthy overall lead of 51s.
Fastest in four of the evening’s five stages behind the wheel of his new Subaru Impreza, Duffy was imperious as he conquered the tricky, changeable conditions as rain swept across the Inner Hebridean island.

Behind the leading duo, Dervaig’s John MacCrone — driving a Subaru Impreza for the first time — continued to increase his pace. The 2013 winner, who dropped 26s on the opening stage when the extra headlight pod failed to work, finished the first test — the 6.77-miler at Mishnish Lochs 1 —in 14th, having dropped 26s to Duffy.
But the young Scot grew in confidence as the evening progressed, eventually setting fastest time in the day’s third stage, the 4.63-mile test at Loch Kinloch.

It was at testing evening for the two drivers who finished on the podium alongside Duffy last year. Tristan Pye (Bishop Auckland), second 12 months ago, struggled with power steering issues all evening in his Impreza, eventually finishing ninth, 4:04s off the lead.
Cope meanwhile could only manage one place better. The Bury driver struggled to establish a settled rhythm and starts his today’s second Leg in his Impreza in eighth, 2s ahead of Pye.

Two seconds is also the gap between the Mitsubishi Evo VI of Settle’s Jonathan Mounsey in fourth, and fifth-placed Paul MacKinnon. The former winner, driving Duffy’s ex-Ford Escort MkII, is 68s ahead of fellow Tobermory resident Lewis Gallager’s Impreza.
The most notable retirees on the opening leg were Ireland’s Derek McGeehan whose Mini WRC was forced out with injector problems, and five-times British champ Jimmy McRae. The 71-year-old veteran was forced to retire his Vauxhall Firenza when its engine seized on SS2.
The action restarts later today with the first of the day’s 13 stages: the 2.62-miler at Ardtun, which starts at 12.08pm. The third and final leg gets underway at 9.53pm, before the finish ceremony in Tobermory at 1.20am on Sunday morning.

Overall standings after SS5 of 18:

1. Calum Duffy 50mins 26secs;
2. Daniel Harper +51s;
3. John MacCrone +1.26s;
4. Jonathan Mounsey +2.14s;
5. Paul MacKinnon +2.16s;
6. Lewis Gallager +3.22;
7. Richard Cook +3.27s;
8. John Cope +4.02s;
9. Tristan Pye +4.04s;
10. Tony Bardy +4.17.

DRIVER QUOTES:

Car 1: Calum Duffy: Really, really wet in the final stage. And we were on full soft slicks. An absolute downpour at the end: there was a lot of water flowing over the road and it was tough. If we’d been in the Escort, we’d have been in the hedgerow. But we’ll need to continue this pace tomorrow to stay ahead of Daniel (Harper) and John (MacCrone).

Car 2: John MacCrone: The last three stages today have been a lot better, but i think we dropped a lot of time to Calum in there. It was torrential rain, and the wipers struggled to keep up. But overall, I’m happy with where we are. The main thing for me is time in the car, and we’re getting quicker. But Calum’s good: he’s used to leading from the front and is able to cope with the pressure. Our opening night hasn’t been ideal, but we’re getting quicker as get used to the car.

Car 4 — John Cope: SS5 was an absolute disaster for me. I didn’t carry any speed: just feel I must be getting old, and my eyes are struggling to cope with the dark. It’s disappointing: it just didn’t come to us tonight. If it’s dry tomorrow, we’ll mount a push..

Car 6 — Paul Mackinnon: It’s definitely not the weather for this car: we had so much wheelspin because the rear tyres couldn’t shift the water quick enough. Hopefully it’ll be better tomorrow. We haven’t quite got the set-up right: it’s a bit too bouncy. We just need to sort it for tomorrow. But I’ve no excuses. I always wanted to drive a car like this: I just need to adapt my driving style.

Car 7 — Daniel Harper: This evening’s been a bit like the weather: changeable. It’s been difficult to find grip, and I’ve had no rhythm. At least I think we had the right tyres — intermediates — so I’m relatively happy with where we are.

Car 8 — Tony Bardy: We’ve had a few small, wee issues, but it was the right decision to switch from the NIssan to the Ford Focus. We don’t have any one big problem, but we do have a big vibration: I hope it’s a driveshaft, because we have a spare one. If it’s the gearbox: we don’t have a spare.

Car 11 — Richard Cook: We were hit with a load of torrential rain, and we were aquaplaning all over the place. It was tricky, but we’re happy: it’s been a cracking night!

Car 12 — Jonathan Mounsey: We’ve just pushed this old car as fast as she’ll go: it was like a missile coming down through the Glen. Honestly, it was awesome. I wait 12 months to come to Mull and unload a year’s stress … an I just did that in this stage. Tomorrow we’ll have more of the same: flat-out!

Car 3 — Tristan Pye: It’s not been very good today: hampered by power steering problems. Thankfully though we got it repaired for the start of SS5. I need to know where we stand before we decide what we’ll do tomorrow.

Car 18 — Lewis Gallager: That last stage was perfect. Flat out tomorrow.

Car 14 — Nigel Worswick: We’ve survived, but we’ve virtually no front brakes. and we need to change the set-up of the suspension. But the front brakes are so poor

Car 20 — Alan Gardiner: We’ve been careful in the wet because we’ve been on slicks. But it’s better to be cautious and make sure we’re here tomorrow.

Photographs copyright of

Last year’s Mull Rally winner, Dervaig’s Calum Duffy, tells Jim McGill his reasons for switching from his beloved Ford Escort to a new Subaru Impreza, and why he’s gunning for win number nine, and hopefully a bit of redemption.

Photograph by LindsayPhotoSport.

Jim McGill: What was your thinking in making the decision to switch from the Escort to the Subaru?
Calum Duffy: I’d been competing with the Escort for more than 20 years and it had got to the stage where I couldn’t develop it any further. I’m not going to say I was bored with it, but using it every year it had got too repetitive.
We got to the stage where we were either going to stop, or we were going to have to change. We didn’t want to stop: so we made the change.
We decided to go for the GpA Subaru: it’s a real driver’s car, and that was always important to me. We could have gone for a World Rally Car, but we’d rather be in a real driver’s car.

What the car’s background?
It’s a genuine Prodrive Allstars 555 car. Kenny McKinstry had it for a while. The car has actually done Mull three times.

What are its main plus points, and are there any negatives?
I really can’t make any comparisons until I get it out on a stage that I know, but it’s definitely not as fast in a straight line as the Escort.
But it’s got better brakes, better suspension and it delivers more traction. Latterly with the Escort we were going through so many tyres simply because of the power it was putting down: we couldn’t get a tyre to last at the back of it.
The fact I knew the stages so well, I was pushing the car so hard I was actually over-driving it.
I’d love to be able to out at the end of the Mishnish Loch stage and say “that’s as good as it’s going to get”, because I’ve never been able to do that in 20 years’ of rallying.

Given the fact this will be your first time with the Subaru on Mull, does that influence your approach?
Not, not really: I’ll still just go flat-out basically. It’s Mull. I know it’s a long rally, but you can’t afford to drop any time on any of the stages. I think I’ll just attack it and go as hard as I possibly can.

Who do you see as your main rivals this year?
John MacCrone will be a serious threat. Having won here a couple of years ago, he’s back this year in a Subaru.
Tristan Pye, second last year, will be one to watch.
There’s four or five there that could win it. Another’s Tony Bardy in the Ford Focus; and of course, Tapio Laukkanen. It’ll be interesting to see how he copes with the demands of Mull.

Do you think it’ll be a bit of a culture shock for Laukkanen?
Yeh, I think it will be. He’s obviously done the British Rally Championship before and won it, but I don’t think there’s anything out there that comperes to Mull, especially the night stages. I’d be very surprised if he came and was blisteringly quick straight off the bat. Very few people are able to do that.

Last question: what would it mean to win number nine?
It would be something special for us to win it in a four-wheel drive car. We weren’t sure we’d made the right decision because the WRC cars are definitely faster than the Escort. A lot of people have been asking us ‘what have you done’ going for the GpA Subaru? They think we’ve taken a step backwards.
So for use to win the rally, and beat the times of the Escort would be a huge statement that we’ve made the right decision. It would be a bit of redemption.