Rally - Notes after SS13

There’s just no stopping Calum the Comet. His lead in this year’s Tunnock’s Mull Rally has been reduced slightly but he’s still well in control and running at his own pace: “I was too cautious there. I went for Inters and I would have got away with Slicks,” but he looks like a man in control.

Tony Bardy is still second in his 4WD Nissan behind the RWD Escort, but in third place is the FWD Fiesta of John MacCrone who set fastest times over Gribun 2 and Mishnish 2. Now that’s impressive in drying conditions in the wee car.

Mind you, the term ‘drying conditions’ is relative, there are still slippy bits and standing water and the occasional, rain shower to add to the mix. Just ask second place man Tony Bardy: “I’ve sprung a leak – me. I’m sweating so hard.”

John Cope has moved up to fourth place and the grin is getting wider: “No troubles over those last four, the shafts seem to be OK now.”

But Daniel Harper has lost out and is not happy: “I got a front left puncture and had to stop and change it, then I broke a driveshaft. I’m not happy,” then he grinned and drove off despite the fact that he’s dropped to 18^th place. That just means he’ll be all the more worth watching tonight.

Jonathan Mounsey dropped back a couple of places too: “The turbo pipe came off in the long one. The Lancer went from 300 hp to 100 hp!”

O’Donnell was another to lose out, puncturing a tyre in the Escort, but with only a couple of miles to go in Mishnish, drove out on it. He got a bigger fright when he went to start the long one and the final daylight stage of the afternoon: “I went to switch off the heated windscreen and accidentally switched off the fuel pump by mistake, so when I went to start the stage – panic!”

John Cressey has moved into the top ten in the MINI but a front brake calliper problem is causing concern, and Curly Haigh is lying just outside the top ten in 11th place in his MkI Escort. Nice one Curly.

Provisional leaderboard after 13 of 17 stages:

1, Duffy, 1h 38m 19s

2, Bardy, 1h 40m 03s

3, MacCrone, 1h 40m 26s

4, Cope, 1h 42m 38s

5, Gallagher, 1h 42m 40s

6, Pye, 1h 43m 03s

7, O’Donnell, 1h 43m 26s

8, Mounsey, 1h 44m 21s

9, Bird, 1h 45m 23s

10, John Cressey, 1h 45m 37s