Tour of Mull Rally axed (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Tour of Mull Rally axed

9:10am Monday 8th March 2010 in

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THE 2010 Tour of Mull rally has been axed by the organisers, the 2300 Club of Blackburn.

The decision was taken at a special committee meeting, where members voted unanimously to pull the plug on the event, widely acknowledged as one of the best club rallies in the UK.

They cited financial problems as one of the reasons, with last year’s 40th anniversary Tour of Mull, making a substantial loss.

“The organisers left Mull in October 2009 with morale very low indeed,” said rally chairman Neil Molyneux, who lives in Hurst Green.

“We had been looking forward to a bumper 40th event. Problems during the Rally and various PR issues left us wondering why on earth we were subjecting ourselves to this.

“Members of the 2300 Club organise the Tour of Mull in their own time and at their own expense. What they ‘give’ is enormous in these terms and also in terms of their skill, commitment and dedication.

“The Tour of Mull is our hobby and we run it because we enjoy it. If the enjoyment disappears then we will stop doing it.

“Enthusiasm in the Club has been hugely reduced by problems that were encountered before, during and after the 2009 event.

“There exists unresolved safety issues that expose both competitors and organisers; the competitors to risks beyond the natural hazards of Mull, and the organisers to possible litigation, which seems to be the way of the world these days in the face of the most innocent of intentions.

“Another problem we face is a financial one. We faced some ‘one-off’ costs for the 40th Rally and the underlying trend is that our costs are increasing much faster than our income.

“There have always been problems and criticisms of one sort or another. Now the Committee’s overwhelming feeling is that the growing difficulties and increasingly bitter, often personal, confrontations have eclipsed the pleasure gained from running the rally.”

The 2300 Club have left the door open for the rally to return in 2011, and will carry on with the John Easson Scholarship, one of the most prestigious awards in the sport for up-and-coming young drivers.