Scotland's John MacCrone bids for three wins in a row this season when he tackles this weekend's (May 9/10) Manx National Rally on the Isle of Man. And for the 24-year-old from the Isle of Mull, it signals a return to his favourite surface, tar.
In his opening two events this season behind the wheel of his new Castrol-backed Ford Fiesta R200, the talented young Scot has dominated the 1600cc two-wheel drive class in the Snowman and Granite City rallies, both counters in the Scottish Championship.This weekend though MacCrone, brought up on the blisteringly fast single-track Tarmac roads on the Hebridean island of Mull, hopes to impress again.
"It's my first time on tar with the new M-Sport-built Fiesta R200," admitted MacCrone, who was mighty last October when he won the Tunnock's Mull Rally in an M-Sport four-wheel drive S2400, "and my first since Mull last year.
"The opening two events in the car have been in forest stages in different, and difficult conditions, so it's all-change again for this weekend.
"Naturally we've swapped the suspension and brakes over from a gravel set-up to one which is much better suited to tar, and we have the option of both Pirelli slick and intermediate tyres."
And MacCrone, who will have experienced co-driver, Welshman Dai Roberts, sat next to him for the first time, is confident the Fiesta R200 will again deliver class-leading performance.
"The Fiesta R200 is a great little car," he continued. "I've had good experience previously with the R2 Fiesta, so its going to be nice having a little more power in an already proven bundle.
"Obviously it is going to be hard to keep up with all the more powerful 2WD and 4WD cars, but we'll be concentrating first and foremost on taking the fight to the other cars specifically in my class."
MacCrone, whose only previous experience on the IoM in 2010 saw him roll his Fiesta R2 before recovering to finish the event, is only too aware of the biggest challenge he faces this weekend.
"The weather," he smiled. "That's what's going to be the biggest challenge for all the crews. At the moment the forecast looks like rain, and that's not ideal for Tarmac."But the Manx is renowned for its high speed stages with lots of bumps, and I'm relishing the challenge. These are my favourite type of stages: the faster, narrower and bumpier the better!"MacCrone will tackle the opening six stages in his Fiesta R200 — prepared by Carlisle-based CA1 Sport, and which will again run in the famous Castrol colours — on Friday night.
The final eight fast and slippery stages will be fought out on Saturday before the 127-mile event finishes in front of the famous TT grandstand at the island's capital, Douglas.
John MacCrone:In 2009 John won the 205 Ecosse Challenge and enjoyed a remarkable debut year in the MSA Scottish Rally Championship, winning the Junior category and being awarded the series’ Junior Prize Drive. He subsequently topped a Motorsport News list of the ‘Ones to Watch’ from all disciplines of motorsport in 2010, and went on to finish second in the Fiesta SportTrophy UK. In 2011 John competed in a selection of BRC and WRC events, winning his class on Wales Rally GB and IRC Rally Scotland. John moved into the top-level FIA WRC Academy, for the world’s top young drivers, in 2012 and was immediately on the pace. With limited experience at this level John showed great speed through the year with numerous stage wins to his name. John is also a member of the MotorSports Association Team UK.
