MACCRONE TO RETURN IN SRC JACK BENYON

NATIONAL RALLYING EDITOR “Two things have changed since my last ITRC column”

John Maccrone will make his competitve return on the Snowman Rally later this month, four months since an accident on the Mull Rally claimed the life of his co-driver Andrew Mort and left him with serious injuries.

Maccrone is planning a full Scottish championship campaign in a Ford Fiesta R5 starting with the Invernessbased Snowman Rally on February 20.

MSL will prepare Maccrone’s Fiesta and the Mull driver will join fellow Scot Garry Pearson in competing in an R5 car in their national series.

“I felt like I need to go out and enjoy some rallying and the Scottish championship is a great place to do that,” said Maccrone. “It’s a great place to learn the car. I don’t have a lot of experience with it, it’s a good place to get back out and get into the swing of things and it works well for the sponsor too with them being based in Scotland.

“I had a bit of support last year from a company called Watermans based in Edinburgh, they helped me to do Rally Germany. Then the Mull accident happened and it set us back a bit.”

Maccrone, who has recovered from the neck and back injuries sustained in the Mull crash, is considering the British championship for 2017, once he has mastered the R5 Fiesta.

“At the moment we’re planning on doing the full Scottish championship with the aim of learning the car,” said Maccrone. “I’d like to think that next year it would be nice to have a crack at the full British championship also.

“We’ll take it in our stride. The Snowman will be the first rally since the accident so it’s not going to be easy, but it gives me a chance to get going again. I’m not putting any pressure on myself, I’m just out to have fun and do my own thing.”

Rhianon Gelsomino, wife of Gus Greensmith’s co-driver and Ken Block’s former navigator Alex, will co-drive Maccrone on the Snowman.