Argyll Rally 2018

The Mull Car Club along with Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally returned on Saturday the 23rd of June for the second time in 2 years after a successful 2017 return.

24/06/18

Rallying returns to Argyll and Dunoon!

One of the very first cars to pass through Stage 4

 

Built on the success of the return of rallying in Argyll in 2017, the event along with the help of their title sponsor Dunoon Presents roared throughout the hills and valleys of Dunoon and the surrounding areas.

The 8 stages would be held at 4 locations: Bishop’s Glen, Glenbranter, Beinn Lagan and Coire Ealt.

• Glenbranter: Stages 1 & 5 (Sponsored by gti direct)
• Beinn Lagan: Stages 2 & 6 (No spectators allowed)
• Coire Ealt: Stages 3 & 7 (No spectators allowed)
• Bishop’s Glen: Stages 4 & 8 (Sponsored by the 51st State & La Cantina)

The start of the rally was held at the car park at the Argyll Ferries, rather than the town centre this year as works at the Queen’s Hall are still taking place. The drivers then headed to stage 1 at Glenbranter.

The drivers would stop and wait until they were told to go. They were interviewed in the meantime.

Around 56 cars took part in the initial stages but due to reliability issues, some drivers dropped out and decided not to take any further part in fear of damaging their cars more.

The stages was being run with the fastest seeded 2WD cars running first through the stages followed by a small gap then the fastest seeded 4WD cars that followed.

In rallying, a time gap is allowed as a safety barrier. This is used in case the car ahead crashes, spectators are on the track and that the dust has died down to let the driver see where they are going. Dust was a big part in the Bishop’s Glen stages.

Dust was kicked up as the cars flew past.

Cars competing in the 2WD category included: Fords ranging from the Escort Mk2 to the Fiesta ST models, Peugeot‘s ranging from the 206, 106 and the 106 GTI models, the MG ZR model, BMW‘s ranging from the 325i and the M3 models and the Talbot Sunbeam model.

Car competing in the 4WD category included: Fords ranging from Fiesta R5 to the Focus WRC models, Subaru with the popular Impreza model, Hyundai i20 R5 model, the Mitsubishi‘s ranging from the Evo 4, Evo 9 and the Evo V models and the Skoda Fabia model.

The drivers weren’t hanging around and pushing flat-out throughout the stages.

My Day

I got up early and went down to the car park to watch the cars head off to the first stage at Glenbranter. I decided to go to the Bishop’s Glen stage as it was the closest stage in terms of travelling distance. After leaving the car park, I headed to the Bishop’s Glen where I followed the signs which led me to just after the designated spot for spectators. It was a very good spot so I decided to stay and wait after Stage 4 and just wait for Stage 8.

Reflection

From a spectator point of view, the event this year was far better than last year. There was more promotion and advertising and most importantly more signs telling spectators where to go and how to get there. The organisers have obviously listened to feedback about last year’s event and built on the success of 2017. One of the main issues last year was the apparent lack of signs which confused people in where to go.

In only their second year of returning to Argyll and Bute to rally, both Dunoon Presents and Mull Car Club have done a great job and I cannot wait for the event to return next year.

The day would not have been possible if not for the marshals who volunteered and gave up their time to help with the event. Thanks to them, the event as a whole ran smoothly.