Is it rally 41 or Mull Rally number 1? After the 40 year success of the Tour of Mull rally under the auspices of the 2300 club of Blackburn, it is time for the locals to take on the Tunnocks Mull Rally 2010?
What number it is matters none – a new broom is at the helm (to mix metaphors in the extreme) and we are excited! There is a buzz in Oban as folk prepare to cross the water to the Isle of Mull and take in ‘The Best rally in the World’.
The community that rally founder, the late Brian Molyneux and family visited in the mid sixties is ready to take up the mantle and have pulled together magnificently to get the rally into its next phase.
No one will be more pleased than Brian as he looks down on us, pipe in hand and a satisfied smile on his face.
The Mull Car club and the community leaders have done well and as a result we have 130 plus cars and teams on the island which is a great shot in the arm economically at this time of year.
Add to that the day visitors and the island community will be swollen to capacity over the next three days. Not a bed in sight. But now the rubber meets the road….
Top of the list is last years winner – Calum Duffy and his magnificent Ford Escort RS – resplendent with 340 horses under the bonnet. 340 BHP in a Mark 2 Escort!!! A wonder to behold.
Next along comes the young pretender Paul MacKinnon at number 2 in a Subaru Impreza – with James MacGillivray at no 4 in his immaculate Escort Mk 2 and Daniel Harper at 5 in the BMW Mini Cooper S- all previous winners.
The interloper at number 3 is Dougi Hall – a long-time exponent of the rally, always nearly there at the end, but never the winner – yet. This year the EVO 9 driver may just do it.
Of the wild cards none come wilder than Oban’s Willie Bonniwell….or so we thought…. until two years ago when the Subaru Impreza driver came third.
That surprised many who had not reckoned on the smooth style that Will had adopted to make best use of the amazing low down power or torque that the Subaru supplies.
So we are ready – two nights and a day of spectacular scenery, twisting, testing, single track roads and very fine weather await us.
Calum Duffy hopes to get a dry blast at the Mishnish lochs stage – if he does the record will go! That will be the place to be on Friday night and Saturday afternoon!
All the info you need is here. All the results are here – all the stage times as they happen.
All the chat and Music will be here (Oban FM online) - or on Oban Fm 103.3FM (if you are in the footprint and the transmitter behaves this weekend!)
We will be on air from 8pm on Friday night through til the end at 1.30am on Saturday morning and on Saturday night from 9pm as the rally runs to its close and we declare the winner at 2.02am on Sunday morning.
Campbell Cameron – Motor-sports Editor and roving reporter!
