The Best Rally in the World.
So they say about the Tunnocks Tour of Mull. Having been there twice already (BK - before kids), I find it difficult to disagree.
Having enjoyed the spectacle of Rally Ireland in 2007 (its first inclusion in the WRC), Andy and I are heading for Mull (in Argyll, off the West Coast of Scotland) for the 2008 Tunnocks Tour of Mull rally. 9th October 2008. Run by a car club from Lancashire, obviously, the island closes its challenging roads and 150 enthusiastic competitors thrash their machinery over 3 days. Its non-championship but is still over-subscribed every year. Why? Well I hope to capture some of the spirit of the event in this blog, to help you understand why. As a taster, just think of streaming wet roads where a local driver in a Mk2 Escort (Calum Duffy) can be quicker than a WRC spec Scooby - quite a sight.
For details of the event, go to the organiser's web site: www.2300club.org
Planning started at Christmas time, 2007 - getting accomodation is notoriously difficult for this event, with many competitors and spectators going every year and booking their rooms for the next year, as they leave after the event. 30 emails over 2 weeks left us with 2 choices - we chose a B&B on the coast not far from Tobermory and got booked in. The ferry was soon sorted from Oban to Craignure and we were all set, quite a good bit in advance.
You can check out my other blog via www.talbotsunbeam.co.uk for details about our transport - a 1982 Talbot Sunbeam Lotus. Entirely appropriate and right that we should go in this car, but I suspect we might be a bit deaf and have a few headaches by the time we get from Mold in North Wales up to Oban for the ferry.
The journey will be fairly straightforward - M56, M6, A74(M) to Glasgow and then up the A82 through the glens to Oban. Hopefully the weather will be good enough to enjoy the spectacular scenery north of Glasgow and smooth for the crossing. We'll be travelling most of the day on Thursday and arriving at our digs early evening. Plenty of stops are planned on route and centre around Tesco's 99 Super Unleaded! The route is 344 miles and should take us about 6 hours elapsed, so we're allowing 10 hours so we don't miss our ferry and we have plenty of time for coffee breaks.
