NEWS: Scot John MacCrone targets British rally title
2nd May 2013


Scots rally ace John MacCrone takes his first step this weekend to lift the coveted British Rally Championship. The 23-year-old from the Isle of Mull is hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow Scots, Colin, Alister and Jimmy McRae, and David Bogie, all former British champs.


(John MacCrone and co-driver Phil Pugh in their Culina Palletforce Racing Citroen DS3 R3)

MacCrone heads into the wilds of the Kielder Forest, along with 90 other crews, to tackle the opening round of the championship, the Carlisle-based Pirelli International. After an impressive season last year in the World Rally Championship Academy, where he bagged a couple of podiums and a series of fastest times, MacCrone is up for the challenge.

"I remember when I was younger saying to myself that I would like to at least try and win the British Rally Championship, like Colin did," MacCrone admitted. "I'm now in the right position to do that. I'm in the right car, have a good team, and experienced co-driver. It's obviously too early to make predictions and say I'm going to win it, but obviously that's the aim."

MacCrone will lead the Culina Palletforce Racing team, which will also run Carlisle's Peter Taylor, in his all-new Citroen DS3 R3. And the Scot also has a new co-driver, the immensely experienced Welshman, Phil Pugh.

"Phil has obviously been there, done it: he's got loads of experience," MacCrone explained, "and it's great for my confidence. We've been working well together in testing: now we just need to do it on the Pirelli. We have a great relationship both in and out of the car, and I think we'll just build those levels of trust even more as we go through this season. He's onboard to help me and point me, literally, in the right direction."

And MacCrone is quick to admit his biggest thought ahead of the event is getting through the first stage, the nine-miler at Pundershaw, unscathed. "I've never done a rally stage in this car with this navigator before, so the first stage will definitely be interesting for the both of us," he smiled. "I'm eager to get to the end of it and then take it from there. ut by no means will I be going flat-out on the first stage to chuck it in a ditch. I need to be fairly sensible, but establish a good, fast pace. I'll definitely be playing the long game."

The 10-stage Pirelli International Rally consists of six stages on Saturday, followed by another four — including two runs through the longest, the 9.66-miler at Glen Dhu — on Sunday.

Press release issued on behalf of John MacCrone by McMedia


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