One of Argyll’s major events of the year, the 2012 Tunnocks’ Mull Rally, is receiving substantial support from the west coast’s ferry operator, CalMac.
As well as providing six free passages for rescue units, CaqlMac has put in place a discount scheme that will knock £100 off the travel costs of competing teams.
Competitors travelling with a trailer under eight metres long will save £100 on their return sailing costs on the Oban-Craignure route and £99 on the Lochaline-Fishnish route.
Only the towing van will count as a commercial vehicle, with the trailer given the standard fare.
The discount will be available to competitors over a 10-day period covering the rally. Each competitor will be issued with a discount code that can be used once.
This is a substantial support for the event since, island based, just getting there adds markedly to the costs of competing.
As part of the cost-saving package agreed with Caledonian MacBrayne, all competing cars will this year have a CalMac sticker on their car.
Along with the Tiree Wave Classic,the Mull Rally brings high level skills challenges with adrenaline rushes even for spectators. Together these events do Argyll the favour of pushing back the Autumn, bringing in a flush of late visitors in their traditional October timing.
Both are island-based events and appropriately both are sponsored by the company traditionally delivering the lifeline services to Scotland’s delightful west coast isles and its remote places.
The Mull Rally has a historic cars contest on the menu for this year, with entrants already in the lists. These cars must comply with the requirements of the R49 section rules in the Blue Book and it is likely that anyone entering their car in one of the historic car classes will be familiar with those regulations.
The main event has had its own excitements in the run up period.
Back in July a hugely destructive rainstorm n a single night took out bridges on the Gribun Rocks stage leaving the possibility of the event losing six special stages. The event’s website has some stirring photographs of the way this narrow little coastal thriller was left, looking as if the only answer was an Evil Knievel or an Eddie Kidd in a car.
Thanks to timely input from Argyll and Bute Council, the Gribun stages will go ahead through this section as usual.
The overall entry list is looking great and, with the event running over three days from 12th to 14th October, the programme should be published on the website very shortly and the rest of us need to grab any remaining accommodation on the island.
Rallying makes F1 look a game for wimps. It’s the BMX of motorsport and with the very special challenges of the Mull terrain and the awesome landscapes, this is one of the year’s major spectacles – with the island’s famous white tailed sea eagles, the ‘flying barn doors’ with their 8′ wingspan, the spectators with the best view in the house.
