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Brora rally driver puts in fantastic performance at Mull Rally





Gordon Mackay in action at the Mull Rally.
Gordon Mackay in action at the Mull Rally.

GORDON Mackay says he was delighted with his performance as he finished fourth overall in his class at the Mull Rally last weekend.

The 38-year-old bricklayer from Brora put in a fantastic performance as he drove through the night and day to complete the rally where he finished in 46th place overall out of 155 drivers.

Mackay was driving alongside co-driver Iain Macleod (44) from Lairg for the first time as they competed in their Peugeot 106 GTI.

Mackay says Mull is described as one of the toughest rally events in Scotland and he was delighted that they managed to get through it.

He said: “It was my second time competing at Mull Rally, the conditions were horrendous as it was on the tail end of the hurricane.

“It was a hard rally as the Friday night stage didn’t finish until 4am and then Saturday was the day time stages. They call it the toughest rally in the UK. We finished 46th overall out of 155 competitors and fourth in our class.

“I was delighted with how the rally went and it was only my second rally event of the season when I competed at Kinloss back in March.”

Mackay has been racing since he was a child when he first took part in go karting before then progressing into rally driving.

He was inspired by his dad Alan who was previously a navigator for before he then got behind the wheel and has been competing in rally driving for 18 years.

“I was doing kart racing when I was 10 years old up until the age of 16.

“I raced for Scotland in the Five Nations and took part in the Scottish Championships and raced across Scotland and Britain.

“I went into navigating when I was 16 and navigated for my dad in Ireland on my 16th birthday. I got my first rally car when I was 17 and I have been rallying ever since.

“My very first competitive rally was in 2006 and I have been rally driving ever since.

“I have competed in major competitions such as Snowman Rally, Speyside Rally, Granite City Rally and at numerous events throughout Scotland.”

Gordon Mackay pictured with his co-driver Iain Macleod.
Gordon Mackay pictured with his co-driver Iain Macleod.

His dad Alan is set to compete at the Snowman Rally this weekend, with Gordon set to work on his servicing team. Gordon will not be competing at the Snowman Rally this weekend, but plans to compete in 2025.

In the meantime, Gordon is planning to compete at Rally Barbados next year.

Mackay also competes in rally driving to help promote mental health charity Mikeysline. He has helped raise £5500 by completing challenges such as walking the Great Glen Way and climbing Ben Nevis dressed in a superhero costume.

He said that it is a charity which is close to his heart and says he uses competing in motor rallying to help address the issues the charity tackles.

He said: “It is good to help with mental health and promote the charity and try and lose to the stigma of mental health, which even exists in the rallying world.”


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