Rally - More Notes from SS13

For a first timer on the Tunnock’s Mull Rally, Donnie MacDonald is going well in the Lancer. Fourteenth overall after Leg 2, even his pals are grudgingly pleased. Grudging? “If he finishes in the top ten we’ll never hear the end of it,” said Brian Watson who has a job this weekend chauffeuring some ‘high heid yins’ round ahead of the rally in the Treble Zero car.

Alistair Inglis’ boys changed the head gasket on the Lancer this morning with Alistair commenting: “I switched the anti-lag on for the first time this afternoon,” and grinned evilly as he said it. He’s lying an impressive 12^th overall, and like MacDonald, this is his first time on the rally.

Another driver going well is Ian Chadwick in the Honda. It was his co-driver Johnnie Bould who commented: That was awesome, he was at the races in there. Magic.” And no wonder, they’re lying 13^th at the moment and second in Class B behind MacCrone.

After his trouble last night, Alan Gardiner was better pleased in today’s dryer conditions with the MkI: “I put harder tyres on this afternoon. The compromise was more grip over the Knock stage but scary over the Lochs.”

Steve Cressey is picking up pave in the MkII: “We changed the suspension overnight and put the old stuff back on. It’s better and it’s giving me more confidence,” he said. Alex Taylor in the Forester was less cheery: We had a disaster in that last one, SS13, we broke a driveshaft and have got a broken bottom arm. It’s ratchet-strapped in place for the moment and we’ll get it fixed at service.”

Dave Miller had to stop and changed a puncture tyre on the Subaru over the Lochs and John Morrison reported a couple of scary moments in the Lancer: “Someone dropped either fuel or oil ahead of us, and we were first on the scene.”

Peter Taylor dropped time this afternoon: “The diff is getting noisy,” he said, “so we’ll need to get it checked out.” But when he was asked why the Focus no longer has a front bumper, just grinned and sped off!  Craig Rutherford’s Honda Civic struggled to drive up the hill to the Control outside the Salen Hotel this afternoon: “We broke a driveshaft five miles from the end of that last one, and think the diff might have gone too, and we’ve lost the power steering.”