– New-look Beatson’s Building Supplies Mull Rally offers a refreshed challenge
– Opening day offers daylight for all, before the longest night-time leg in over a decade provides the toughest test yet
– Remains the longest asphalt stage rally in the UK and Northern Ireland
– Over 125 crews set to brave the Island encounter to date
There is a distinctly new look to this year’s Beaton’s Building Supplies Mull Rally [13-15 October] as organisers Mull Car Club elect to ensure the 51st running of the iconic island event returns to its roots with a “back to basics” approach.
With an impressive history that can be traced back to the road rallies of 1969, the Mull Rally has grown into one of the most iconic closed-road events in Europe and provides competitors with arguably the toughest challenge of any sealed surface event in the UK and Ireland.
And this year, a fresh approach to the format has brought about a new itinerary for those brave enough to enter this unforgiving event, as the focus turns to retaining “everything that is special” for the 2023 edition of the rally.
With entries opening at the start of the month, to date over 125 crews have lodged their name on the list to contest the revised formula, and the action across the field is undoubtedly going to provide fans with yet another spectacular weekend of closed-road action.
Once again, the rally visits almost every corner of the north and mid-segment of the island, and the popular “Fanzone’s” will offer the chance to get up close and personal to the cars at Re-Group in Ledaig car park in Tobermory on Friday, and Cheese Farm during Saturday’s stages.
After the now traditional shakedown at Duart Castle on Friday morning, the opening leg will ease crews in with a false sense of security as just three, short sharp stages offer the chance to get bedded in ahead of the inevitable challenge ahead. Starting in Tobermory, the rally’s opening day will take place largely in daylight but rounds out with the return of the Glen Aros / Hill Road test ahead of an early evening halt in Salen.
A leisurely re-start from Tobermory sees Saturday take in the classics such as Mishnish Lochs and Calgary Bay, albeit in a revised format and competitors can expect over 53 miles of action in daylight. There will be just enough time for a short respite before the action resumes with the re-start in Salen at 18:00 and the ultimate sting in the tail follows on, over 63 miles of some of Mull’s finest roads under the cover of darkness, the longest night-time leg of any Mull Rally in over a decade.
If you are still awake, crews will reach the all-important rally finish and champagne spray in Tobermory’s Ledaig Car Park at around 12:40am, bleary-eyed and battle-scarred but undoubtedly elated to finish the toughest rally of the year.
Clerk of the Course Richard Crozier is delighted to see the rally come together and is looking forward to seeing how competitors tackle the revised itinerary in 2023.
“Trying to pull together over 133 miles of closed roads on the island of Mull certainly takes some doing and it always shocks me how much hard work and dedication the entire team put into making the rally happen year on year” he says.
“Our aim is always to keep innovating and ensuring that the rally remains fresh for those competitors who come back again and again, but exciting enough to draw in a swathe of newcomers too and I think we have captured the full essence of the Mull Rally this year and retain everything that is special about the rally. “
“Perhaps it feels like more of a back-to-basics approach after the fiftieth anniversary event, but it’s by no means an easy one. It’s nice to have a huge variation of names on the list of entries, many of which are in with a shout of a win so it’s likely to be an unpredictable year in terms of gauging that, but that’s what this rally is about.”
“The organisers are carrying a very prestigious baton and we are doing all we can to continue the special legacy of the event and the island. But we have no doubt this is going to be a cracker of a year.”
“Our thanks must go to Beatson’s Building Supplies for their continued support and to the entire island for welcoming us so warmly year after year. Thanks also to Argyll & Bute Council and Police Scotland as well as the ongoing support of Event Scotland, which recognises the global reach of the rally, and we can’t wait to welcome you all to Mull in October”.
Once again, organisers have decided as part of an environmental road map that the Mull Rally will partner with Carbon Positive Motorsport and take significant steps to mitigate its carbon footprint through the purchase of carbon reduction units.
These units are sourced using only world-class UK rewilding-based carbon offsetting projects certified by the Woodland Carbon Code. Such projects provide greater environmental benefits than offsetting alone and ensure that the economic benefits are retained in the UK.
More information will be available on the event website – http://www.mullrally.org and across the social media channels in the build-up to the event.
All images: Lindsay Photo Sport
90right UK Rallying 