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Mull Murmur 7- published on the island, during the event by Jaggy Bunnet MULLMURMURS, Chapter 7 Provisional leaderboard after SS15 (of 20) 1 Harper/Campbell (Mitsubishi Lancer) 1 Hr 37 mins 08 secs Whisper it, it’s dry at the moment on the the 33rd Philips Tour
of Mull, but I know the reason why, the island gods ran out of rain during the
night and they’ve sent over to Ireland for some more – it should arrive
later to-night! But what a tussle for the lead. Just when everyone was expecting Boko to
sweep into the lead during daylight, it didn’t happen. Harper is digging deep
and despite only his second time out in a 4WD Lancer is doing the business. At
the end of stage 13 he couldn’t get out of the car quick enough. The reason?
He was desperate for a p**. That’s not to say MacKinnon isn’t trying. He
half spun the Subaru in Calgary and tore a bit of the front spoiler off. Harper doesn’t actually feel under pressure: “Everyone was expecting him
(MacKinnon) to take that 40 seconds off me and go past this afternoon but it
hasn’t happened. I’m feeling pretty relaxed about it and I’m not taking
any risks. We’ll just have to wait and see what the weather does to-night.” Earlier I said Billy Bird was out, but that was the result of mis-information,
guess who had the joy of telling me I was wrong? Yup, Billy and he’s still in
the top ten and says: “I’m going as hard as I can. I love this four wheel
drive business but I just can’t make the Sierra go any harder”, but it looks
as though Paul Kirtley has gone. The big blue Subaru was spotted parked up for
an awfy long time at the end of stage 13. John Baird got a puncture in SS14 but didn’t drop to much time although
Brian Cameron may have benefited from that and taken over Baird’s top ten
position … Mike Storrar reckons this event is better than sex (sad sod) and
revealed that the Anglia has a bog standard Vauxhall engine in it … Pat
Johnson got a puncture at the hairpin … Mick Briant might have a problem,
engine smoking badly at end of SS15 and doesn’t sound too good … Theo Bengry
is astonished at the pace, especially in these conditions … John Cressey has
got fuel vapourisation problems in the Astra and it keeps missing and cutting
out … Chris Tooze was off in SS15 but back on again after dropping time …
Willie Bonniwell is in the wars again, this time with a broken throttle cable
… Doug Weir has been off the road and his 11th place overall might
now be suspect … and having a trouble free run – till now, was Mark Jasper.
A wheel problem in the final two stages has cost him time and he might also have
a problem with the front suspension. The O’Donnell twins are up to their usual tricks. They put the Salen Silver
Escort on its ear in Mishnish this afternoon … the reason for James
MacGillivray’s disappearance last night? The turbo failed in SS2 … John
Dalton is going quickly but the car refuses to fire up at times – first time
out in a Nova (used to drive a Mini) Andy Rhodes is not sure if he likes it …
Eamon Kilmurray lost time last night when he inadvertently switched off the fuel
pump … Trevor Lewis burst the power steering pump last night and spent the
rest of the night in Diddy Dave’s place fabricating a new one … Andrew
Davies has got a grumbly driveshaft … Steve Kay got a stack of penalties last
night and is catching cars today … Derek Hosie’s throttle is sticking open
… Andy Blower gave photographer Frank Williams a fright when he handbraked the
hairpin. The lads had forgotten to tell him they had tightened it up, and he
chased poor Frank across the grass! … Mike Curry is finding the Clan very tail
happy in the wet with the engine hung out behind the rear wheels … Haydn
Williams is struggling with the Mini, it won’t rev cleanly over 4000 … Phil
Bruce’s gearbox is getting noisy … John Rintoul broke a propshaft in the
Escort Cossie last night. All the bolts sheared at one end, so he disconnected
the other and carried on with 2WD but borrowed a spare for today … Dermot
Common spent most of last night on 3 cylinders and now the clutch is failing in
daylight … Carol MacCrone in a fit of understatement reckoned: “It’s a bit
slippy out there” … Alan Douglas finished the tenth stage grinning from ear
to ear in the wide-track Nova: “It’s not a grin, it’s a grimace –
through fear!” he said … Rod Brereton is beaming for another reason: “It’s
the furthest we’ve got in 9 years – we’re going to try and tie with Alan
Douglas for the last finishers’ award!” Dougi Hall took an early lead in the Trophy Rally from James MacGilivray but
Robin Hamilton retired again, the Metro lost rear wheel drive and the lads are
trying to repair it to get him out again to-night (methinks Hammy is a few teeth
short of a full differential, he’s a glutton for punishment). Symptomatic of
Hammy’s weekend, the cracked electric w/screen got worse rumbling out the
stage last night on the punctured tyre so the team changed it, and the spare
didn’t work! And finally an appeal. Crispin Edwards in car 89 needs a diff for a MkII
Escort. He thinks its an Atlas axle but is sure it’s a front loading diff. If
you can help, call 07866 332599. Yer auld pal, Jaggy Bunnet, Salen Hotel, Saturday, 5:30 pm. |
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