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RALLLY TEAM SCOTLAND

PRESS RELEASE: 13 November 2011

MacCrone Magic Delivers Double World Class Win

Rally Team Scotland’s John MacCrone put in the drive of his life this weekend to take an incredible class win and finish top two-wheel-drive car on Wales Rally GB – the final round of this year’s FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).

Battling with the world’s best young rally drivers, MacCrone and co-driver Stuart Loudon powered the Palletforce Fiesta R2 to 23rd overall and first in class six by a commanding margin. Their performance also earned the Richard Burns and Michael Park Trophies, in memory of the two former competitors, for top British, non-priority driver and co-driver on the rally.

This class win on the UK’s most important rally event, and only their second ever WRC rally, follows a similar result on their native Rally of Scotland last month and demonstrates the pair’s ability to step-up in performance to the world level.

As members of the Motor Sports Association’s Team GB squad for the country’s most promising young drivers, the pair have been part of a specialised training and mentoring programme created to guide young drivers through to world championship level.

MacCrone, from Isle of Mull, had a steady start to the rally when it got underway at Llandudno on the north Wales coast on Thursday afternoon. But he kicked the Tunnock’s-supported car into gear on Friday, catching slower competitors on most stages.

But MacCrone’s game plan was to gain the essential experience from finishing the rally, so he was focused on combining speed with a safe, consistent pace.

Locked in a battle with the world’s best young talent competing in the FIA WRC Academy, MacCrone demonstrated he could mix it with the best and by Saturday he had moved into the class lead. He held position during today’s final six stages to take a convincing class victory and claim top two-wheel-drive runner among a host of vastly more experienced drivers.

MacCrone never put a wheel wrong all weekend and crossed the podium today in Cardiff having delivered a stunning display of speed and a measured drive over the 23 stages and 353 km of timed, high-speed action.

The team’s focus is now on securing partners to ensure a full world rally campaign next year and build on the success of this season.

John MacCrone, Rally Team Scotland driver, said: "This has been my best-ever drive and a result for the whole team to be proud of. We had a game plan to finish the rally and get the vital experience from such a long event. To be able to stick to that plan yet still come away with such a fantastic result is just amazing. We’ve shown our pace here this weekend so hopefully we can get the necessary support to contest the full WRC Academy series next year.”

PRESS RELEASE: 10 October 2011

MacCrone Finishes Top Scottish Driver on Home Rally

Rally Team Scotland driver John MacCrone has delivered a strong performance to finish as top Scottish driver on the high-profile Rally of Scotland – the UK’s round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

His clever driving in the Tunnock’s-backed Fiesta R2 also claimed a class victory and ensured he finished as second two-wheel-drive car amidst a field of extremely experienced drivers from across the world.

MacCrone, from the Isle of Mull, lined up alongside fellow countrymen David Bogie, current British and Scottish Rally Champion, and former world rally driver Alister McRae - but he came out on top after the challenging forest conditions took their toll on many crews.

Rally of Scotland, which took place around Perth and Stirling, is renowned for providing some fantastically fast, but technically difficult, forest rally stages. Saturday’s heavy rain made the conditions even more tricky but MacCrone, and co-driver Stuart Loudon, were more than up for the challenge.

They started cautiously on Friday night’s two passes through Carron Valley before setting a blistering quick time through Saturday’s demanding 13.16km Drummond Hill test – finishing 24 seconds faster than their closest class rival.

The Palletforce-supported crew then focused on consolidating and controlling their advantage throughout the day, even though a puncture on Saturday’s penultimate test dropped them 20 seconds.

Sunday’s competition proved even more challenging and the rough conditions inflicted damage to the rear beam of the little Fiesta. This caused it to slew across the gravel roads and MacCrone picked up another two punctures during the final day’s action as he fought to keep his car on the road.

With two runs through the longest stage of the event, the 27.08km High Corrie test, it was certainly no easy cruise to the finish.

But as other drivers faltered, MacCrone and Loudon stayed focused on their objective of finishing this tough event and rolled over the Scone Palace finish ramp as class winners and top Scots.

The weekend’s rough gravel experience will certainly help as the team prepare for its next event, Rally GB, the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship. This classic event runs from 10-13 November and takes in some formidable rally tests as it runs through the length of Wales.

John MacCrone said: “This is a great finish to a tough event and it means a lot to come home as top Scottish driver on my country’s top rally. We took a different approach to this rally and the aim really was to get to the finish – but we still delivered some fast times at key points during the weekend. The stages were quite rough in places so it was important to control the pace and push where it was possible. Now we look forward to Rally GB, and this has certainly helped us gain valuable preparation mileage for that event.”

PRESS RELEASE: 15 August 2011

MacCrone Makes WRC Debut In Deutschland

The Rally Team Scotland crew of John MacCrone and Stuart Loudon will embark on one of their biggest motorsport challenges as they tackle an FIA World Rally Championship event for the first time this weekend.

ADAC Rallye Deutschland, based at Trier in western Germany, heralds the ninth round of the world series and will see MacCrone and Loudon take to the stages in their world rally debut alongside the world’s top rally drivers.

But the pair are both members of MSA’s Team UK, a driver development scheme for the country’s most promising young drivers, and are focused on using their specialised training to make the most of the opportunity.

Although all of Rallye Deutschland’s 19 competitive stages take place on asphalt, the route takes crews through some very different regions – each demanding different skills from MacCrone. As the first asphalt rally in this year’s championship there’s also a huge amount of expectation to see which drivers and cars will be battling for victory.

Friday’s action is centered around the vineyards of the Mosel valley and the fast, narrow roads are littered with low walls and slippery junctions to catch out the unwary – but the pair’s nimble Palletforce-backed Fiesta R2 could well be suited to the winding vineyard lanes.

When the rally moves to the Baumholder military training ranges on day two, crews will face demanding sections of fast, broken asphalt lined with giant hinkelsteins – more used to keeping tanks on the road. The Tunnock’s-supported crew’s baptism of fire continues on Sunday’s final day stages through vineyards and more traditional German countryside.

The rally finishes with a leisurely blast through the streets of Trier and around the famous Porta Nigra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where crews lucky enough to make the finish will have completed over 360 competitive kilometres.

Rally Team Scotland has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to bring more team partners on board and to secure more high-class events. German businesses A2B-Online and Schubert Packaging join Auto Glym and Unique ID as four new team partners – and MacCrone is hoping he can deliver a strong performance for them on his world class debut.

Rally Team Scotland driver John MacCrone said: “I’m really excited about this opportunity and realise the benefit of having three full days of competition – with that in mind, my focus is definitely to try and finish the rally and make best use of the experience. The rally has thrown up a lot of challenges in the past and, if the weather is mixed this weekend, it will be difficult to master the changing surfaces.”

PRESS RELEASE: 30th May 2011

MacCrone Retires From Class Lead At Jim Clark

Rally Team Scotland’s John MacCrone retired on stage ten of the Jim Clark Rally after sliding into a ditch whilst in the lead of the R2 class. MacCrone had set some blisteringly quick stage times which catapulted him into an early category lead, but he succumbed to the fast Tarmac stages on round four of the MSA British Rally Championship.

MacCrone was guided again by co-driver Stuart Loudon and the Team UK pair dominated the early stages around Duns in the Scottish Borders. They took a commanding lead in their Palletforce Fiesta R2 after setting fastest times on the first two stages on Friday night.

A stunning drive over the infamous 13-mile Abbey St Bathans test, where gravel and ditches lie in wait for the unwary, produced a seventh fastest overall time – quicker than some of the main championship contenders in much faster machinery.

The pair put the performance down to pacenote preparation on the pre-event recce where they put extra detail into their system to cope with the tricky conditions.

The pair led the ultra-competitive R2 class for most of Friday night, pulling away from rival driver, and WRC Academy star, Alastair Fisher. They settled into a comfortable overnight second after Craig Breen, also in a Fiesta R2, nudged ahead.

Both MacCrone and Breen had already climbed inside the top-ten proving a well-driven two-wheel-drive car was a match for some of the bigger vehicles on Tarmac.

Day two dawned with a loop of three stages and MacCrone set off at a fast pace in the Tunnock’s-backed Fiesta. On stage eight he regained the lead after Breen retired and by stage nine MacCrone and Loudon held a 34 second advantage over second-placed Fisher.

But disappointment was just around the corner – or more accurately, at the end of a long straight. In stage ten, MacCrone left his braking a little too late for a slow right corner after a fast straight. Unable to stop, he slid through a hedge and collided with a tree – damaging the radiator and forcing him to retire.

It was a frustrating end to an event which proved the young Scot’s speed, but mastering the Jim Clark, as many who have gone before will agree, is no easy task.

John MacCrone, Rally Team Scotland driver, said: “We tried to go hard right from the start and had worked a lot on the recce to improve our pacenotes. Friday night started well. The first pass was damp and slippery but it was comfortable and we set some good times. Then on Saturday we started fast again but once we saw Craig stopped I decided to back off. Then we just got caught out braking for a slow corner, slid off and broke the radiator. We need to decide where we go from here.”

PRESS RELEASE: 4 April 2011

MacCrone Retires From Lead After Improved Pace On Bulldog

Rally Team Scotland’s John MacCrone and Stuart Loudon delivered a strong and improved performance last weekend only to retire from the category lead after another weekend of highs and lows on the Bulldog International Rally. They stepped things up a gear and were leading the R2 class until a broken drive-shaft stranded their challenge after just three stages.

The second round of the MSA British Rally Championship was held in Welshpool, mid-Wales, and saw MacCrone kick off with a renewed sense of optimism after a driving skills training session with multiple BRC champion Mark Higgins.

MacCrone and Loudon, members of the MSA’s Team UK, were confident after their session with Higgins and they finished the recce in buoyant mood after making positive changes to the pacenotes.

The improvements were evident when the rally kicked off. MacCrone went fast on the opening stage in the Palletforce-backed car despite overnight rain leaving the fast gravel roads in a slippery condition. He then grabbed the lead of the hotly-fought R2 category on stage two, the 8.8 mile Penllyn stage, moving nearly 10 seconds ahead of the similar Fiesta R2 of WRC Academy star Craig Breen.

But disaster struck just a mile from the end of stage three. A driveshaft broke on a long right-hand corner forcing MacCrone and the Tunnock’s Fiesta to limp through the finish line – still in the R2 lead.

The pair bravely fought on through the next road section but had to concede defeat at the uphill start line of the next test when the car would go no further. But, despite a disappointing end to the event, MacCrone was more than happy with his class-leading pace and is hoping to renew his drive for victory at the Pirelli Rally on 29-30 April in Carlisle.

John MacCrone, Rally Team Scotland driver, said: “We were really happy with the times on the first two stages and it shows how much we have improved since last year. It was great to have been beating someone as talented as Craig Breen and it’s just a shame the mechanical problem let us down. But, even through the disappointment, I’ve come away from the event extremely happy. The coaching I had with Mark Higgins has certainly made my driving tidier and faster and I’m very happy with the pacenotes now – it’s really coming together.”

PRESS RELEAS: 27 February 2011

Cloudy Start For MacCrone on Rallye Sunseeker

It was a miserable start to the MSA British Rally Championship for Rally Team Scotland after a failed alternator, on just the second stage of the event, put paid to what it hoped would be a strong opening rally in its 2011 campaign.

A determined crew of John MacCrone and Stuart Loudon, members of Team UK, had made the long journey south to Bournemouth for Rallye Sunseeker. But after a promising first stage, their rally finished prematurely on the start line of stage two.

Rallye Sunseeker had the honour of kicking off the British series and, as a new event in the championship, it was the first time many crews had competed on this rally. The popularity of the Sunseeker, and rallying in general, was evident as thousands of spectators flocked to watch the BRC stars start the season on Friday night.

MacCrone, backed by Tunnock’s and Palletforce, was content after the pre-event recce. He had changed his pace notes for this year and was eager to get started with increased confidence in the new system and his overall event preparations.

The first stage went well and saw MacCrone and Loudon finish just a fraction of a second behind former Fiesta Sport Trophy International champion Craig Breen. They were more than happy with the performance and confident that they could build on that drive during the day.

But, on the road section to the next stage, the Fiesta R2 stopped. The crew eventually got it restarted after checking fuses and electrical connections but the car ran out of life of the start line of stage two – and this time it was for good.

The obvious disappointment of an early retirement was mixed with encouragement as MacCrone’s new pacenote system will provide the crew with greater confidence and enthusiasm as they look to the second round of the British series in Wales.

The Bulldog International Rally North Wales takes place on 2 April in Welshpool and will see Rally Team Scotland return to a more familiar event from last year and sees MacCrone with a gravel test session before the rally.

John MacCrone, Rally Team Scotland driver, said: “I was really happy with the pacenotes after the recce and the new system had made a big difference – I felt well prepared for this one, more than any other rally. The first stage was very encouraging, it all felt good, and we had planned to up the pace a little for next stage. But then the car just stopped and, after some frantic searching for the problem, we got it moving but it stopped again as we were on the start line of the next stage – that was it, we were going no further. We are both disappointed, obviously, but now I know my pace notes have improved, it just gives me more confidence for the next rally.”

PRESS RELEASE: 21 February 2011

Rally Team Scotland Seeks Solid Results In New Season

Rally Team Scotland kicks of its 2011 MSA British Rally Championship campaign this weekend with the Rallye Sunseeker in Bournemouth. After a successful inaugural season in 2010, the team returns to the championship with a renewed sense of optimism, confidence and determination.

Its crew, John MacCrone and co-driver Stuart Loudon, have both been selected for the MSA’s prestigious Team UK training programme and it’s hoped this extra development and coaching will help the pair grab some more solid results this year.

Last season’s campaign was the team’s first foray into the British series and, even though it was meant to be a learning year, 21-year-old MacCrone still punched in some stunning stage times. But this year he is hoping to build on that experience and confidence as he returns to each rally for a second time with a complete set of pacenotes to strengthen his speed.

However, this weekend’s Rallye Sunseeker enters the BRC for the first time so all crews will be on a steep learning curve as they race through the forests of Dorset and Hampshire. After a Ceremonial Start on Friday night, crews face 11 timed special stages as the real action kicks off on Saturday.

MacCrone will again use the Palletforce-backed Fiesta R2 and, with a new emphasis on the R2 class from series organisers, he will face a raft of crews all battling for two-wheel-drive supremacy. The two-wheel-drive runners will be given preferential road conditions by starting at the front of the field and organisers are hoping this move will boost the numbers of crews taking part.

MacCrone and Loudon, however, are relishing the challenge and feel well prepared after a series of physical training sessions with the Team UK training squad. They have visited the Porsche Human Performance Centre in Silverstone to help concentrate on their fitness and mental preparation for the rally.

As well as chasing class honours MacCrone and Loudon will join Craig Breen and Gareth Roberts to score team points for the new M-Sport Ford squad in the BRC Teams Championship.

John MacCrone, Rally Team Scotland driver, said: “I’m really looking forward to getting back into the car and back out on the stages again. I’m feeling a lot more prepared now than any other year and the Team UK fitness sessions mean we are both in really good physical shape. They have also helped me prepare mentally and I’m looking forward to the challenges that this rally, and the entire season, will bring.”

PRESS RELEASE: 12 January 2011

Rally Team Scotland Crew Selected For Team UK

The Motor Sports Association (MSA), governing body for UK motorsport, has selected Rally Team Scotland’s crew of John MacCrone and Stuart Loudon to become part of its national squad, Team UK.

Team UK is a driver development scheme for the country’s most promising young drivers and represents the pinnacle of the MSA’s training structure that has been created to guide young drivers from eight years old through to world championship level.

Just three rally drivers and three rally co-drivers have been chosen to form the elite squad and the pair’s selection is testament to the dedication and commitment exhibited during their inaugural British Rally Championship (BRC) campaign in 2010.

Supported by Palletforce, Tunnocks and a devoted group of important team partners, MacCrone and Loudon posted some stunning performances in their first year of serious competition.

But that first season was a development year and MacCrone was under strict orders from team manager Richard Moore to finish events and get the experience needed to progress.

The selection onto the Team UK squad comes at a vital point in the careers of the young Scottish pair. As they return to the British series for the second time, the support from the Team UK coaching structure will ensure they are improving every aspect of their competitive performance.

Team UK has race and rally coaches who provide specific expertise to supplement the common learning shared across all disciplines. Three-time British Rally Champion Mark Higgins is National Rally Coach while Nicky Grist is National Co-driver Coach.

The content of the Team UK programme is significantly more demanding and focussed than previous schemes, enabling a greater emphasis to be placed on driver coaching and in-car performance. Individual fitness programmes and dietary consultations ensure that the drivers are in the best physical shape, while the application of advanced sports psychology equips them mentally to perform at the highest level.

Exclusive visits to teams from F1 and WRC as well as to leading component suppliers provide invaluable insight into the demands and requirements of a top driver and the squad enjoys access to some of the most sophisticated simulation equipment in the world.

MacCrone and Loudon’s busy schedule starts immediately. They will be attending the Autosport International show at Birmingham’s NEC for the official unveiling of the Team UK squad this week before the first training session at the Porsche Human Performance Centre at Silverstone on 17/18 January.

Rally Team Scotland’s British Rally Championship campaign kicks off with Rally Sunseeker at Bournemouth on 26 February.

John MacCrone, Rally Team Scotland driver, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for me and the selection has come at a very important time. The support of Team UK and Mark Higgins will really help me focus on making a positive change and improving my performance. It’s great that Stuart is involved as well as it will be important for us to work and learn together and to have that level of mutual commitment.”

Robert Reid, MSA Performance Director, said: “John's performances on his first BRC season with relatively little previous rally experience made him stand out. I'm sure that what he can learn from the Team UK programme, along with the help and support of the coaches and experts, will be a big boost to his 2011 BRC campaign. The addition of co-drivers to the 2011 Team UK squad was always to support a handful of the best UK talent. Stuart has been included in this programme on his own merits, with the added bonus of being on the scheme alongside John.