A RALLYING tradition that started 40 years ago will be broken when the Mull Rally takes to the road this weekend.

Acknowledged as one of the most popular club events in the UK, the rally starts tomorrow night – but with a new name and a new organising team.

Gone are the founders, the 2300 Club of Blackburn, who pulled the plug on their centrepiece event following problems in 2009.

But at a public meeting held on the Scottish island last March, there was unanimous backing from competitors, organisers and locals alike to continue with a closed road rally.

The Mull Car Club stepped in to fill the void, electing vice-chairman Steve Davies as rally organiser.

The organisers are now almost exclusively Scottish, with only Chris Woodcock, from Clitheroe and district Motor Club, on the team as deputy clerk-of-the-course.

With backing from previous sponsors Tunnock’s, the re-named Mull Rally now looks set to continue where the Tour of Mull left off.

“Since the decision was made to run the Mull Rally, the news has been welcomed from far and wide,” said Neil McHaffie, chairman of the Mull Car Club.

“From competitor, marshal and spectator alike, there has been massive support and the encouraging letters and conversations we have received so far will surely make this event a great success.

We will be following the previous very successful format of three sections, Friday night and the Saturday afternoon and night.

“The club would like to take this opportunity of thanking the 2300 club for their help and blessing, and to everyone who has come forward with offers of help to get this event off the ground.”

Although entries are down, possibly due to the economic situation, all the familiar faces are on the entry list, including a substantial number of East Lancashire-based regulars.

Calum Duffy (Ford Escort Mk2) and Paul MacKinnon (Subaru Impreza) take up the top two seeds with Cumbrian Dougi Hall (Mitsubishi Evo9) at car three.

2002 winner Daniel Harper lines up at car five in the Mini Sport of Padiham BMW Cooper S, with Chris Campbell on the maps.

Brinscall husband-and-wife team John and Paula Swinsoe will start at 19 in their Evo 9.

SD34 Championship front-runner Ross Miller, from Whalley, is at car 88 in his Peugeot 206GTi, five places ahead of Jim Brindle and Bradley Johnson’s Austin Mini.

Earby’s Rob Eastwood and Martin Taylor, from Kendal, are the final local entries on the list, hoping to get their trusty Mini to the finish.

1: Calum Duffy/Iain Duffy (Ford Escort Mk2).

2: Paul McKinnon/Ewen Macgillivray (Subarua Impreza).

3: Dougi Hall/Alistair Wylie (Mitsubishi Evo9).

4: James MacGillivray/Ian Fraser (Escort).

5: Daniel Harper/Chris Campbell (BMW Cooper S).

6: John Cope/Rob Fagg (Subaru Impreza).

7: William Bonniwell/Allan MacDougall (Impreza).

8: Tony Bardy/Reg Smith (Nissan GtiR).

9: Tristan Pye/Andrew Falconer (Impreza).

10: Wayne Sisson/Daniel Stone (Evo 9).