TWELVE months after being involved in the terrible crash which claimed the life of his close friend and co-driver, Andy Mort, John MacCrone claimed an emotional win in the Mull Rally.
The Dervaig driver, piloting his Ford Fiesta R5, and reunited with co-driver Stuart Loudon, with whom he took victory in 2013, won a thrilling battle with his old rival, nine-time winner Calum Duffy.
The pair were separated by just 18 seconds as they entered the final 15-mile test at Glen Aros/Calgary Bay. Duffy emerged quickest, but it was only by eight seconds, sealing victory for MacCrone by ten seconds at the end of 18 stages and a dramatic 160 miles.
MacCrone, understandably, was overcome by the emotion of the victory, sitting in his Fiesta with his head in his hands, being comforted by Loudon, minutes after they had crossed the finish line.
“It’s been a difficult year for me,” MacCrone said, fighting to control his voice, and glancing at the tribute, ‘Morty’, on his car. “This win’s for Andrew; that’s all that’s on my mind at the moment. I’m happy to have done it for him.”
MacCrone had led the rally from the opening test, the 6.77-miler at Mishnish Lochs, when he was five seconds quicker than Duffy.
By the end of the opening five stages, fought out in the dark and in changeable weather conditions on the treacherously slippery closed-off public roads, MacCrone had increased the gap to 45 seconds.
Through the following two legs – tackled in driving rain and wind – Duffy reduced the gap to the 18 seconds ahead of the thrilling final stage.
Duffy, meanwhile, was magnanimous in defeat, praising the strength and character of his friend.
“Mull is a close family, and we all know what John has gone through over the last 12 months,” he said. “Of course I wanted to win the rally, but perhaps this year it was meant for John, and who am I to question that.
“I cooked four tyres in the final stage, because I was really going for it,” laughed Duffy, piloting his bespoke Skoda S2500 on the island for the first time. “We had a clean enough run through the stage, but our tyres were off, but we did the best with what we had.”
Irishman Derek McGeehan from Draperston, driving his Mini WRC, took his first podium by finishing third.
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