MacCrone bags podium in Germanyposted in WRC26 | 08 | 2012
SCOTLAND'S MOST TALENTED young rally driver, John MacCrone, bagged his first World Rally Championship Academy podium after fighting back to finish third in Rally Germany.
And the 22-year-old from the Isle of Mull, who led the event after the opening two stages, was forced to overcome a series of unlucky incidents to finish on the podium.
Having opened a 15-second lead on the field after the opening stages in his Palletforce and Tunnocks-backed Ford Fiesta R2, MacCrone then hit a patch of oil on stage four.
"The car in front of us had dropped oil and we slewed hard into the Armco barrier at the side of the stage," MacCrone explained today.
"The impact severely bent the left-rear suspension beam, meaning the wheel was facing away from the car, but we had no alternative but to carry on."
With no access to his service crew, MacCrone and his Glasgow co-driver, Stuart Loudon, had to negotiate the next two stages with the stricken car.
See more photos of John MacCrone in action in Germany
"John drove fantastically to get the car home," Loudon said. "The cars was crabbing across the road and he was having to hold the steering wheel half turned to the right just to keep the car going straight."
The Rally Team Scotland crew — also backed by Musto, Bespoke Distribution Aviation, Glengorm Castle, S&S Joiners and TSL Contractors — finished the opening day sixth.
But there was more drama in the opening stage on Leg 2 when the car suffered a puncture.
"We definitely didn't hit anything," MacCrone said, "because our split time through the first part of the stage were good. But as we exited a hairpin I realised the front left tyre was flat. We'd no alternative but to stop and replace it."
Unfortunately that led to more drama. Unable to free the spare wheel from the securing strap, which had become jammed, the crew dropped around four minutes.
And with rain falling during the next two stages, MacCrone had to tackle the slippery Tarmac tests on slick tyres rather than the preferred intermediates.
Undaunted, MacCrone and Loudon headed into the final 29-mile Panzerplatte stage 14.7secs behind Dutchman Timo van der Marel.
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"We had no option but to drive flat out for the whole stage," MacCrone admitted, "and it was the fastest 30 minutes driving I've ever done."
When they crossed the finish line, they were 21.8s faster than Van der Marel, and MacCrone and Loudon had secured their first WRC Academy podium.
"It's a brilliant result for everyone associated with the team," beamed MacCrone, who finished behind Welshman Elfyn Evans, who won for the third time, and Spanish Tarmac specialist Jose Suarez.
"It just highlights how you should never give up, irrespective of the hurdles put in your way.
"Sure we had a bit of luck with a couple of guys dropping out on the final stage, but we'd had our own bad luck earlier in the rally.
"Who knows what might have happened if we hadn't hit that patch of oil when we were leading on the first day?"
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Jim McGill