Category Archives: News

Carbon Positive

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Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally steps up a gear in its Carbon Offset commitment

    • The Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally will enhance its environmental commitment by carbon offsetting all competitors’ emissions at the 13-15 October event
    • Partnering once again with Carbon Positive Motorsport, the popular rally will almost double its offset commitment compared to 2022, with around 70,000Kg CO2e set to be offset
    • The commitment is the second highest level of offsetting by a UK rally

In 2021, the Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally broke new ground by becoming the first rally in the UK to take meaningful measures to mitigate its environmental impact. And in the heart of Scotland’s Climate Week, event organisers will kick-start a significant uplift in its long-term environmental roadmap, by ensuring that all competitors in this year’s event [13-15 October] will offset their carbon emissions, thanks to a continued partnership with Carbon Positive Motorsport.Working closely once again with the industry-leading firm, the Mull Rally will offset more than 70,000Kg CO2e with the use of a world-class Woodland Carbon Code-certified carbon offsetting project based in the Highlands of Scotland, ensuring it provides additional environmental benefits, such as improved biodiversity and the rewilding of native tree species.

Since its inaugural commitment to recognise its environmental impact, the Mull Rally has continued to uplift its obligation to sustainability and in 2022, the rally was able to commit to future offsetting of 46,000kg CO2e thanks to a large number of competitors supporting the initiative.

In 2023, the event chose to mandate offsetting for each competitor which will ensure the event is set to offset more CO2e than most other stage rally events in the world, reinforcing its pledge to be one of the leading events for commitment to sustainability and longevity. This is coupled with several environmental champions who will help spread the positive message for change within the sport’s networks.

New event team members will be dedicated to environmental issues and the ambition to reach Motorsport UK and FIA Environmental Accreditation. This includes the use of Motorsport UK’s Carbon Calculator to better understand total event carbon emissions which will lead to ongoing evaluations and reductions in event processes, such as printing and island movements.

Fans and volunteers are also able to contribute towards their carbon footprint, with Carbon Positive Motorsport offering a 20% discount on the carbon offsetting services when travelling to the event.

Clerk of the Course of the Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally, Richard Crozier said:

“Ensuring that our event continues to deliver an ever more positive environmental legacy for the island year on year, is of massive importance to us.”

“We are proud to have been the first rally in the UK to have recognised the importance of this area and after starting our environmental journey back in 2021, we continue building further upon that with each running. It’s been great to partner with Carbon Positive Motorsport since last year, as fellow motorsport enthusiasts passionate about this area.”

“The addition this year of our own dedicated Environmental Champions in Anna Kebke and Thomas Johnstone, has been a real boost to the event. We look forward to what we can achieve together in 2023, and ensuring that future generations are able to respect, protect and enjoy the Isle of Mull for years to come.”

Paul Glass, founder of Carbon Positive Motorsport added, “It is a great privilege to support the Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally. We all have a responsibility to contribute in a meaningful way to mitigate our impact on climate change and the environment, and the Mull Rally once again sets out to demonstrate such a local contribution to an increasing global problem.”

“I want to thank the organisers and all the competitors this year and last year for their support of our initiative. Our ambition is to help make motorsport and the environment sustainable for future generations to enjoy.”

For more information on Carbon Positive Motorsport or to pledge, visit: https://www.carbonpositivemotorsport.com/post/mull-rally-2023

– ENDS

 

Barbados bound

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Barbados bound; sensational prize opportunity for two-wheel-drive Mull Rally competitors

  • Rally Barbados offers Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally two-wheel-drive competitors the chance of a Caribbean trip and entry
  • All signed-up entrants in front or rear-wheel-drive cars that finish the 2023 Mull Rally are eligible
  • Prize includes free entry and shipping to the 2024 Rally Barbados

Two-wheel-drive competitors in this year’s Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally [13-15 October] will be in line to win a trip to the Caribbean and a free entry to the popular Rally Barbados in 2024, thanks to an impressive prize opportunity courtesy of the Barbados Rally Club.

Any entrant participating in this year’s Mull Rally in a front or rear-wheel drive machinery will be eligible for the amazing entry prize offer, plus free return shipping from the UK to Barbados for their rally car, if they register before the start of the rally. The lucky winner will then be drawn live, at random from all two-wheel-drive finishers in Tobermory on Sunday 15 October, during the ever-popular prizegiving ceremony.

The prize, offered by the Barbados Rally Club with support from Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc is part of a promotional campaign for the 2024 edition of Rally Barbados which takes place for the 34th time and is set to take place Friday 31 May to Sunday 2 June 2024. The traditional Rally Show and King of the Hill serves as the final shakedown and seeding event on 25 and 26 May and entry is also included in the prize offering; the winner will be responsible for their own travel and accommodation.

This year’s Mull Rally will see around two-thirds of the entry tackle the 130-mile – 17-stage event in two-wheel-drive examples and each contender will be eligible for the offering if they have registered beforehand and have been classified as an official finisher.

Rally Barbados Director Neil Barnard will be travelling to Mull, where he will be hosted by one of the Deputy Clerks of the Course Sue Sanders, who has been a safety advisor to Rally Barbados in the past.

Barnard explains: “Mull is a niche, unique rally that shares many characteristics with Rally Barbados: it is an island-based tarmac event run on closed roads and I am looking forward to promoting Barbados, our event and also getting an understanding of the challenges the organisers face and more importantly how they deal with them.

“I hope the prize drive will attract a good response. The random draw means any 2wd finisher can win and not necessarily the fastest, so there’s a terrific opportunity for one of Mull’s loyal clubman supporters to come and enjoy our event. We will also draw a couple of reserve drivers in case the winner finds it impossible to make the trip.”

Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally Clerk of the Course Richard Crozier said: “This is a tremendously exciting initiative, and we extend our huge thanks to the Barbados Rally Club for putting up this mega prize. Rally Barbados has grown tremendously in global stature from its inaugural running in 1990, and likewise the Mull Rally, formerly the Tour of Mull, has a proud history dating back to 1969, developing a passionate following both in the UK and overseas.

“Rally Barbados has seen a good number of Scottish and UK crews head across the Atlantic to compete over the years, all of whom have returned with big smiles and plenty of stories to tell, so this is a great opportunity for one of our 2WD crews to sample that. There are huge synergies between the challenges both events face as island-based sporting and cultural events, and we can’t wait to extend Neil a warm welcome to Scotland in October and continue to develop this nascent partnership.”

-ENDS

Eligible competitors can register here: http://eepurl.com/ipmuDs

Mull Rally Ferries Update

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Mull Rally Ferries – an update

We are aware that at present, the CalMac Ferries online timetable is only showing departures up to 15th October on the Craignure to Oban route.

The rally is in constant contact with CalMac, and there will definitely be ferries on that route on the 16 October and beyond, however, the new timetable publication is being delayed as they review vessel deployments.

We would expect a similar timetable to be instigated from the 16th, and as soon as we receive word of the dates becoming available to book, we will make a further announcement.

We have also been told that there will be two vessels on the Fishnish to Lochaline route for Sunday 15th and Monday 16th, and there will also be a new system in place to reduce queuing traffic. This route remains a great option, although, it is not bookable in advance.

We will bring you further updates as we receive them to help with your travel arrangements to and from the island in October.

Planning ahead

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Planning ahead! Mull 2024 date announced

Whilst preparations are underway for October’s 51st running of the legendary Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally, organisers are now able to reveal that next year’s edition will take place on the 11-13 October 2024.

Announcing the following year’s date allows the island’s infrastructure, residents, fans, competitors, and volunteers to prepare well in advance. Thanks to the high demand to secure a place on the popular event Mull Car Club have once again unveiled the planned date well in advance to assist in these preparations for the challenging three-day blast across the closed roads of Mull.

During the early part of 2023, the organising team began a consultation to look at moving the now traditional mid-October date, back one week in a bid to take pressure away from accommodation and ferry providers, as well as better suiting landowners and estate facilitators.

However, factors including the issuing of the summer timetable for ferries, and the potential impact on other established events in the motorsport calendar, the decision was made to retain the traditional weekend that has been the mainstay of the rally for decades.

We look forward to seeing you in October and back on the island once again in 2024!

Mull Rally 2023 Q&A

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Hi everyone. We’ve had a few very good questions over the initial info for this year’s Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally – thank you for some very healthy engagement. We tried to answer as much as we could in Rally Guide 1, but some deserve a bit more detail. So your volunteer organising team, the majority of whom active or recent competitors, thought it best to put together a short Q&A, on some of the regular themes:-

* What’s the script with the Friday? And the Saturday night?

This year fundamentally is focussed around making the event more streamlined, easier to run, more financially sustainable going forward, and making some use of the opportunities available to us since 2019. As well as this, we wanted to go back to the heritage and history of the event, focus the event back on the Saturday night from which it originated, and also retain the sporting interest deeper into the event. In the event’s history, the Saturday day leg started out as a “prologue” appetiser ahead of the meat of the rally on the Saturday night, and this focusses back on those roots. This year’s is the longest Saturday night in 15+ years, at 63 stage miles, running 7pm to the wee hours – basically combining the two night legs. To balance the man hours of this for our volunteer marshals, we have to make compromises elsewhere, and that’s why the Friday leg is a bit shorter.

We’re also really conscious that we have to make the rally attractive to newcomers in an increasingly competitive market – but also sociable, ideally with lots of short stages and a chance to catch up with fellow competitors at stage arrivals, as well as a few more opportunities to showcase the beauty of the island in daylight. This led to the idea of a couple of short stages in daylight, to make things welcoming and inclusive for newcomers, focused on lower populace roads to minimise community impact, and from a sporting perspective, to reduce the chance of catching cars or of notional timings impacting things, and seed the field – driven by our recent experiences as competitors, and reflecting changes on other events. And then round out the leg with the return of an old favourite at night, Hill Road / Glen Aros, with the atmosphere at Smiddy Junction in Dervaig at a sociable hour. There’s scope to grow it for future years, including the potential return of Ardtun for example.

* Why is the overall stage mileage down from 148 to 133 miles?

As competitors we have sought to make the route more ‘no nonsense’, and cut down on the amount of times bits of road are used on different stages / note changes have to be carried across, and make things easier, more efficient and smarter for recce – allowing those of you who make a holiday of the event to spend more time enjoying the island, and those who are focused on a compact recce experience to make this more manageable. Feedback from our route note suppliers – OnThePaceNote and Scotmaps – on their initial recces in recent week, is that the route does just this – comments including “fair play great route, and relatively straight forward recce!”, which reassures us that it’s delivering what we hoped it would, and we hope competitors will find likewise.

This is our first pass of such a route concept, and there’s scope to grow it in future years. This year’s Mull Rally is still the longest and toughest annual stage rally in Great Britain & Northern Ireland, and we want to keep it that way.

* Why has the entry fee increased from £875 to £985?

Despite a full entry in 2022, we actually made a substantial financial loss. If there’s to be a rally in years to come, we can’t keep that up. After several years of holding our entry fee down low, getting the event’s finances on a sustainable footing is one of our top priorities. In line with the rest of the world, we’ve been faced with massive cost increases in the last year or two, including a doubling of some of our safety stakeholder costs, which has a near five-figure impact. After a thorough market analysis, we’ve ensured that event remains under £8/mile, which means Mull is still the best ‘bang for buck’ closed road rally in Great Britain & Northern Ireland this year. All of our numbers indicate the entry fee should be several hundred pounds higher, but we have been determined to keep the entry fee under £1,000 to ensure value – this simply would not be possible without the continued support from Beatson’s Building Supplies, EventScotland, Argyll & Bute Council and all our other valued partners.

* Why has The Long One been shortened, from 22mi to 16.5mi?

Two things mainly – fuel mileage, and more efficiency of our safety services. The 30-miler in 2022 proved to us that competitors should be OK on fuel, and we’ve also seen this with other events which have around 30-mile loops, but based on what other events have seen, we’re not comfortable to push this to around 40 miles. After last year, we were also very conscious that with some longer stages, including the 30-mile Very Long One and 14-mile long daytime stage, some competitors lost a chunk of mileage. Not only have we reserved some entries this year for competitors so affected, but we’ve tried to focus the event on more shorter stages, with plenty of re-route options, to try and maximise the chance of the whole field getting as many stages as possible. Again this is something we can look at rejigging and refining for 2024.

* Why no Tobermory on the Friday?

We’ve listened – though it’s a bit more road miles, the Friday start will be returning Tobermory, with the Saturday night start moving to Salen. After last year we’ve also listened and focused scrutineering entirely back on Tobermory this year.

* How will the Saturday Gruline service work?

The original intent was ~50 miles no service, for a real challenge, but competitor feedback was that for safety, in case the weather turns, it’s probably better to include a Tyre Fitting Zone or similar – that said, we would welcome feedback on the idea of the meaty Saturday day leg for future years. Gruline service was driven by 2022 and seeking to reduce service traffic up/down the Sound of Mull, and competitor feedback seeking a hark back to the management service days, which we can’t do under new-for-2023 rules from Motorsport UK. We’ve listened to your feedback on the challenges of this, and will be returning Saturday daytime service to the Tobermory area, for this year.

* Is there still time for the stages to be changed this year?

No. The road closures are subject to a lengthy legal process under the Motor Sport on Public Roads Scotland Regulations 2019, and have been through a public island community consultation process in December/January. The road closures have been applied for as of April – six months prior, as laid down by the law – so we’re pretty committed as this point.

* Is there scope for more competitor engagement/involvement in the design of the route?

Yep, this is something we can look at for 2024. We already take into consideration the post-event competitor feedback forms, as well as all the other variables we have sight of, every time we develop the following year’s route in November each year. Doing more than this is an extra level of admin that other events don’t go through, and it’s not something the event has undertaken in the past, all through the 2300 Club days to the present – including the adding of the daytime leg in the ‘70s, and the Friday night in the ‘80s. But given how special Mull is, it might be something worth looking at.

If you’ve made it this far… well done! Hopefully that all makes sense!

Regulations will be published on Wednesday 12th July on www.mullrally.org. In the meantime, if there’s anything you need at all, please feel free to message the page, or contact the team on info@mullrally.org

Thank you!