TUNNOCK’S MULL RALLY, LEG 2 — REPORT, TIMES & QUOTES:

MacCRONE RESPONDS TO TAYLOR PRESSURE
Dashing Dervaig driver John MacCrone responded to pressure from Carlisle 22-year-old, Peter Taylor to extend his lead in the 44th running of the Tunnock’s Mull Rally.
The 24-year-old islander, driving his MSport-prepared Ford Fiesta S2400, and co-driven again by Uddingston’s Stuart Loudon, delivered a calm and professional second-half of the afternoon leg.
With eight stages run this afternoon, it was Taylor, 1min 17secs behind overnight, who came out of the traps fast. The young Englishman, in his 2001 Ford Escort WRC, was fastest through the opening five stages.
As they completed the opening loop, at the end of the first run through the 7.89 miles at Killiemor, Taylor had reduced the gap to just 51secs.
“We’ve been fast right through every stage, and the car’s brilliant,” Taylor said. “We’d have been even closer to John if we’d had harder compound tyres fitted when we came through Killiemor.”
MacCrone, meanwhile, admitted he was still battling to get the prefect set-up for his new S2400 Fiesta.
“We’re going in the right direction with the car’s set-up, but we’re still crashing over jumps,” he said. “We’re taking it steady though. Everything feels good, and the tyres are working well.”
But he was kicking himself after he finished the first run through Killiemor.
“I made a really silly, stupid mistake in there: clipped the chicane with the front-right of the car,” he admitted. “Thought I’d damaged it, so took the next couple of stage carefully to test it out. I know we’ve dropped time to Peter, and I’m surprised he didn’t catch me. Stupid, just stupid.”
But after regrouping at the service halt, and making a number of tweaks to the car, his pace on the second loop of three stages was dazzling.
Though each of the three stages — Mishnish Lochs 2, Hill Road 2 and Killiemor 2 — he was 11-seconds faster than his first run: a total of 33secs.
“The first loop we were on the wrong tyres,” MacCrone explained afterwards, “and that compromised our performance: hence we dropped time to Peter (Taylor).
“I needed to put a lot less effort into driving the car this time round, and we went faster. Tonight will be tough: that final 22-miler will be a real test.”
The young Scot now heads into the final four stages, including the gruelling 22-miler at Loch Tuath/Calgary Bay, knowing exactly what he needs to do to win his home event for the first time.
Behind the young duo, there are a number of close battles. Salen’s Eddie O’Donnell (Ford Escort RS) holds a 34s lead over the Nissan Sunny GTi-R of Tony Baldry. But the gap would have been larger had he not suffered punctures after hitting stones kicked on to the road by the two young guns up front as they cut corners.
Bardy, meanwhile, is only 21s ahead of Tristan Pye’s Subaru. And while Alan Gardiner is 55s further back in sixth, Tobermory’s Lewis Gallagher is only eight seconds behind in seventh.
The afternoon stages brought a series of retirements, including last year’s winner, Calum Duffy, whose Ford Escort MkII suffered terminal mechanical problems on SS14.
Earlier, John Cressey rolled his BMW Mini on the day’s opening test, while Daniel Harper’s Mini went off the road on SS13. Ian Ogg Mackenzie was forced to retire his Mitsubishi Evo with turbo problems, while Dave Miller suffered an accident on SS9.
The day though was also punctuated with the cancellation of SS9 because of another occurrence of spectators ignoring the safety measures and driving out of the stage, despite the fact it was still ‘live’.
There are now serious and genuine concerns about the event thanks to the growing number of thoughtless and mindless individuals who are continuing to drive their cars out of stages while it’s still live.
The event’s ambulances were held up on stages by these individuals driving their private cars on the closed-off public roads.
There are growing concerns about the safety levels for genuine, knowledgeable spectators and, of course, the competitors.
Can we just stress: it is illegal for members of the public to drive their cars on the roads — no matter how quiet they appear to be — when they are ‘live’ for the stage.
They are, strictly, breaking the law, and risk being detained by the police and charged for contravention of the road closure order!
Now though, we focus on tonight’s final four stages, which promise to deliver a thrilling finale to the 44th Tunnock’s Mull Rally.

TUNNOCK’S MULL RALLY 2013
SS8: 4.43-miles Scridain 2
1. Taylor 3min 39secs; =2. Duffy & MacCrone +6secs; 4. Pye +11; 5. Harper +13; 6. Bardy +15; 7. R Cook +16; =8. O’Donnell & Gardiner +17; 10. Ogg Mackenzie +20.

O/all: 1. MacCrone 53mins 51secs; 2. Taylor 1min 11s; 3. O’Donnell +2:42; 4. Harper +2:52; 5. Pye +3:22; 6. Bardy 3:38; 7. Ogg Mackenzie +4:14; 8. Gardiner +4:15; 9. Gallagher +4:16; 10. Cook +4:39.

TUNNOCK’S MULL RALLY 2013
SS9: 4.43-miles Gribun 2
1. Taylor 6min 42secs; 2. MacCrone +3secs; 3. Duffy +10; 4. Harper +21; 5. =Bardy & O’Donnell +22; 7. Pye +27; =8. Ogg Mackenzie & Cook +30; =10. Mounsey & Gallagher +31.

O/all: 1. MacCrone 1hr 00mins 36secs; 2. Taylor 1min 08s; 3. O’Donnell +3:01; 4. Harper +3:10; 5. Pye +3:46; 6. Bardy 3:57; 7. Ogg Mackenzie +4:11; 8. Gallagher +4:44; 9. Gardiner +4:54; 9. ; 10. Cook +5:06.

DRIVER QUOTES SS9:
Car 2, John MacCrone (Dervaig) / Stuart Loudon (Uddingston) M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2400:
“We’re going in the right direction with the car’s set-up, but we’re still crashing over jumps. We’re taking it steady though. Everything feels good, and the tyres are working well.”

Car 15, Peter Taylor (Carlisle) / Andrew Roughead (Newcastle) Ford Focus WRC:
“So far, excellent: we’ve been fastest through the opening two stages. We’ve pushed hard, and some of those jumps have just about pulled my arms out of their sockets. Fair to say we’re committed.”

Car 1, Calum Duffy (Dervaig) / Iain Duffy (Dervaig) Ford Escort MkII:
“We’re just having bait of craic today. After a great start and getting settled into the car with some quick times through the opening two stages last night, I went spinning into a fence in Ardtun! Just a little to fast, caught gravel and spun and beached on a creel! Car undamaged and we were ready to super rally today. Hope John brings it home to Dervaig. Huge thanks to the bun boys who helped us back on. Sadly, alternator bracket snapped and game over, boys came down fitted bracket and drive her home no bother. Stand clear for the rest of today!!!”

Car 6, Daniel Harper (Barley) / Chris Campbell (Barrowford) BMW Mini Cooper S;
I think we broke both our records on the opening two: it’s that fast! We’re really pleased.”

Car 8, Tristan Pye (Bishop Auckland) / Andrew Falconer (Inverness) Subaru Impreza:
“We’re going fine, but we need to stiffen up the shock absorbers at service.”

TUNNOCK’S MULL RALLY 2013
SS10: 6.30-miles Mishnish Lochs 1
1. Taylor 6min 17secs; 2. MacCrone +5secs; 3. Duffy +11; 4. Pye +12; 5. Ronaldson +15; 6. Bardy +17; 7. Gardiner +18; 8. Ogg Mackenzie +19; 9. O’Donnell +20; 10. Harper +22.

O/all: 1. MacCrone 1hr 06mins 58secs; 2. Taylor 1min 03s; 3. O’Donnell +3:16; 4. Harper +3:27; 5. Pye +3:53; 6. Bardy 4:09; 7. Ogg Mackenzie +4:55; 8. Gardiner +5:07; 9. +4:54; 9. Gallagher +5:10; 10. Cook +5:34.

DRIVER QUOTES SS10:
Car 2, John MacCrone (Dervaig) / Stuart Loudon (Uddingston) M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2400:
“Little bit sloppy at start of stage.”

Car 1, Calum Duffy (Dervaig) / Iain Duffy (Dervaig) Ford Escort MkII:
“Really having fun: did a couple f donuts for the spectators.”

Car 7, Eddie O’Donnell jnr (Salen) / Matt Ratcliffe (Tobermory) Ford Escort RS:
“Very good: though someone was on fire, but realised it was Calum doing donuts. Good for him.”

Car 3, Tony Bardy (Richmond) / Neil Colman (Stockton-on-Tees) Nissan Sunny GTi-R:
“Things getting better.”

Car 11, Lewis Gallagher (Tobermory) / Graham Brown (Tobermory) Subaru Impreza:
“First couple of stages were problematic, but I think we’ve got everything sorted now. We should be faster from here on.”

Car 16, Iain Ogg Mackenzie (Dervaig) / Drew Sturrock (Brechin) Mitsubishi Evo:
“Cut corner and got mud on to the tyres, and took a couple of miles to really clean them, and dropped a bit of time.”

Car 21, Alan Gardiner (Biggar) / Robin Nicholson (Largs) Ford Escort MkI:
“Just trying to keep it on the straight and narrow. Really enjoyed it, and we were really flying.”

Car 43, Steven Ronaldson (Inverness) / Ann-Marie Fraser (Inverness) Metro 6R4:
“Absolutely brilliant out here. As long as nobody crashes in front of me, we should have great fun for the rest of the day.”

Car 31, Ian Chadwick (Cork) / Johnnie Bould (Glasgow) Skoda Fabia:
“We’re doing all right: better than last night. We’re not judging ourselves by the clock, we’re working on getting the car’s temperatures up.”

TUNNOCK’S MULL RALLY 2013
SS11: 5.84-miles Hill Road 1
1. Taylor 5min 42secs; 2. MacCrone +5secs; 3. Duffy +10; 4. O’Donnell +14; 5. Bardy +17; =6. Harper & Ogg Mackenzie +23; =8. Mounsey & Gardiner +27; 10. Gallagher +28.

O/all: 1. MacCrone 1hr 12mins 45secs; 2. Taylor 58s; 3. O’Donnell +3:25; 4. Harper +3:45; 5. Bardy + 4:21; 6. Pye +5:09; 7. Ogg Mackenzie +5:13; 8. Gardiner +5:29; 9. +4:54; 9. Gallagher +5:33; 10. Cook +6.07.

TUNNOCK’S MULL RALLY 2013
SS12: 7.89-miles Killiemor 1
1. Taylor 6min 24secs; 2. MacCrone +7secs; 3. Duffy +12; 4. Bardy +19; 5. O’Donnell +21; =6. Pye +23; 7. Harper +28; 8. Mann +34; =9. Mounsey & Gallagher +36.

O/all: 1. MacCrone 1hr 19mins 16secs; 2. Taylor 51s; 3. O’Donnell +3:39; 4. Harper +4:06; 5. Bardy + 4:33; 6. Pye +5:25; 7. Ogg Mackenzie +5:58; 8. Gardiner +6:00; 9. Gallagher +6:02; 10. Mounsey 6:43.

DRIVER QUOTES SS12:
Car 2, John MacCrone (Dervaig) / Stuart Loudon (Uddingston) M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2400:
“Made a really silly, stupid mistake in there: clipped the chicane with the front-right of the car. Thought I’d damaged it, so took the next couple of stage carefully to test it out. I know we’ve dropped time to Peter, and I’m surprised he didn’t catch me. Stupid, just stupid.”

Car 15, Peter Taylor (Carlisle) / Andrew Roughead (Newcastle) Ford Focus WRC:
“Quickest again, and if we’d hard the hard compound tyre fitted, we’d have been even faster

Car 1, Calum Duffy (Dervaig) / Iain Duffy (Dervaig) Ford Escort MkII:
“Very good in there, though it was a bit slippery. Having difficulty keeping tyres on the back because we’re having so much fun.”

Car 7, Eddie O’Donnell jnr (Salen) / Matt Ratcliffe (Tobermory) Ford Escort RS:
“We’ll just plod on: we’re having a good battle with Dan Harper.”

Car 6, Daniel Harper (Barley) / Chris Campbell (Barrowford) BMW Mini Cooper S;
“Worked very hard in there: Very fast, and an interesting with the chicane.”

Car 3, Tony Bardy (Richmond) / Neil Colman (Stockton-on-Tees) Nissan Sunny GTi-R:
“We seem to be going faster, but I think everyone’s going faster.”

Car 8, Tristan Pye (Bishop Auckland) / Andrew Falconer (Inverness) Subaru Impreza:
“We went off on the Hill Road and careered over the grass for about 100 metres: how we didn’t damage the car, I don’t know.”

Car 11, Lewis Gallagher (Tobermory) / Graham Brown (Tobermory) Subaru Impreza:
“The front tyres are peeling: very dry and very quick.”

Car 21, Alan Gardiner (Biggar) / Robin Nicholson (Largs) Ford Escort MkI:
“The tyres were good, but I don’t know if I can go any faster.”

Car 9, Jonathan Mounsey (Settle) / Richard Wardle (Pickering) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI;
“Really ragging it in there: big effort. Brilliant!”

TUNNOCK’S MULL RALLY 2013
SS13: 6.30-miles Mishnish Lochs 2
1. MacCrone 6mins 10secs; 2. Taylor +6secs; 3. Duffy +11s; 4. Pye +25; 5. Gardiner +27s; 6. Mounsey +29; 7. Gallagher +34; 8. Baird +35; 9. Morrison; +39; 10. Bird +42.

O/all: 1. MacCrone 1hr 25mins 26secs; 2. Taylor 57s; 3. O’Donnell +5:05; 4. Bardy + 5:39; 5. Pye +5:50; 6. Gardiner +6:27; 7. Gallagher +6:36; 8. Mounsey +7:12; 9. Cook +7:30; 10. Haigh 8:23.

TUNNOCK’S MULL RALLY 2013
SS14: 6.30-miles Hill Road 2
1. MacCrone 5mins 36secs; 2. Taylor +13secs; 3. Bardy +24; 4. O’Donnell +25; 5. Pye +28; 6. Mounsey +30; 7. Gallagher +32; =8. Gardiner & Baird +35; 10. Cook +40.

O/all: 1. MacCrone 1hr 31mins 26secs; 2. Taylor 1min 10secs; 3. O’Donnell +5:30; 4. Bardy + 6:03; 5. Pye +6:18; 6. Gardiner +7:02; 7. Gallagher +7:08; 8. Mounsey +7:42; 9. Cook +8:10; 10. Haigh 9:11.

TUNNOCK’S MULL RALLY 2013
SS15: 6.30-miles Killiemor 2
1. MacCrone 6mins 20secs; 2. Taylor +4; 3. O’Donnell +24; 4. Bardy +25; 5. Pye +31; 6. Mounsey +35; 7. P. Gibson +38; =8. Gardiner & Cook +42; 10. Gallagher +44.

O/all: 1. MacCrone 1hr 37mins 22secs; 2. Taylor +1min 14secs; 3. O’Donnell +5:54; 4. Bardy + 6:28; 5. Pye +6:49; 6. Gardiner +7:44; 7. Gallagher +7:52; 8. Mounsey +8:17; 9. Cook +8:52; 10. P. Gibson +9:50.

DRIVER QUOTES SS12:
Car 2, John MacCrone (Dervaig) / Stuart Loudon (Uddingston) M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2400:
“The first loop we were on the wrong tyres, and that compromised our performance: hence we dropped time to Peter (Taylor). I needed to put a lot less effort into driving the car this time round, and we went faster. Tonight will be tough: that final 22-miler will be a real test.”

Car 15, Peter Taylor (Carlisle) / Andrew Roughead (Newcastle) Ford Focus WRC:
“The previous stage I stalled a couple of times and we dropped time: that was annoying. This one went all right, but I’m not really looking forward to the darkness: I’d like it to stay daylight.”

Car 3, Tony Bardy (Richmond) / Neil Colman (Stockton-on-Tees) Nissan Sunny GTi-R:
“We’re a bit further up because the cars ahead of us keep dropping out, but that’s fine by me. We’ll give it a go tonight.”

Car 8, Tristan Pye (Bishop Auckland) / Andrew Falconer (Inverness) Subaru Impreza:
“Clutch is still slipping, and with no anti-lag we’re still dropping around a second a mile. Off to have a good sleep now.”

Car 11, Lewis Gallagher (Tobermory) / Graham Brown (Tobermory) Subaru Impreza:
“Dropped a bit of tim at the start: we hit the tyres at the chicane, which wasn’t clever.”

Car 21, Alan Gardiner (Biggar) / Robin Nicholson (Largs) Ford Escort MkI:
“Went ok, I think. We’re happy.”

Car 7, Eddie O’Donnell jnr (Salen) / Matt Ratcliffe (Tobermory) Ford Escort RS:
“The two guys up front are cutting corners right, left and centre and pulling stones on to the road: that’s what caused the puncture which probably cost me around a minute.”