Rally - Notes after SS11

The trouble with the world’s weather forecasters is that the Isle of Mull doesn’t take a blind bit of notice and does its own thing. It was wet this morning although drying this afternoon, which means grip levels and speeds will be higher.

The front runners got the worst of it just after the mid day start with Duffy saying: “At least in daylight you can see the standing water more easily than at night. I’m trying to go at Paul’s pace (MacKinnon) from last year in the wet stages.”

Tony Bardy broke a tooth in the Nissan’s gearbox last night: “Second gear broke and the bits were jamming the box at times. So once I found a gear I just left it there! The boys changed the box this morning, but it’s an old gravel box and the ratios are shorter. Still, I’m surprised to be here, normally I’m on my home by this time.”

John MacCrone in the Fiesta is just wary: “The puddles and standing water can catch you out in there.” Daniel Harper’s MINI created a new air dam for itself when after a hard landing the tailgate flew up. Jonathan Mounsey is still going well, but has reprofiled the nose of the Lancer: “We were off at 120 mph in Gribun. Over a crest, the car went light and the tail stepped out and we ran out of lock. It was left stuck backwards in a ditch with the nose pointing skywards. We thought we’d never get out, but we started it up and it just pulled itself out.”

Tristan Pye has a misfire in the Subaru and thinks it’s the fuel pump so that will be changed at service while John Cressey didn’t wake up till the first crest in Gribun: “I wasn’t that quick last night.”

As for Billy Bird: “I’ve got me nuts tightened (see earlier Notes) and hopefully I won’t need to fiddle with me nuts any more today.”  

Provisional leaderboard after 11 of 17 stages:

1, Duffy, 1h 10m 59s

2, Bardy, 1h 12m 52s

3, MaCrone, 1H 12M 56S

4, Harper, 1m 13.29s

5, Mounsey, 1h 14m 06s

6, Gallagher, 1h 14m 10s

7, O’Donnell, 1h 15m 02s

8, Cope, 1h 15m 03s

9, Pye, 1h 15m 22s

10, Bird, 1h 16m 26s