TRAVELLING at over 100mph on a dirt track only a few inches wider than the rally car we were in while going through a tunnel of trees, John MacCrone’s voice came through the speaker in my helmet: “Calm, isn’t it?”, he asked. Calm wasn’t exactly the emotion that sprang to my mind but ok John, I’ll take your word for it.

MacCrone is amongst Scotland’s leading rally drivers and this evening, will be on the start line for the biggest event in the British rallying calendar, Wales Rally GB, which begins in Rhyl in north-east Wales today and runs until Sunday.

We met in Greystone in Cumbria, where the 28 year-old was testing his Ford Fiesta R5 in preparation for the race, MacCrone had not been in a rally car for a year but his extended lay-off hasn’t heightened his anxiety levels as he goes into this week’s race.

“It has feel like a long time since I’ve been in a rally car and I suppose such a long build-up adds a bit of pressure,” he said. “More than anything though, I just feel excited and I’m really eager to get going. You’ve got to get the balance between being cautious but not over-cautious.

“This rally will have the best drivers in the world there so it’s going to be ultra-competitive but that’s good - I’m looking forward to testing myself against the very best. This is the highest level I’ll ever have competed at so I’m buzzing.”

To most, the prospect of getting into a rally car worth £200,000 with and with 300 horsepower, would be somewhat daunting, but MacCrone has enough experience to make sure he is prepared for all eventualities.

The Mull native is a multiple winner of his home race and with over a decade of top level rallying behind him, it didn’t, to my untrained eye at least, appear to take him long to get up to full speed.

This year’s Wales Rally GB involves 21 special stages covering over 189 miles and MacCrone’s testing day gave me, a novice to the art of rally driving, something of an insight into what it takes to become one of the world’s elite.

It is not, in fact, the speed that it the most thrilling part of being a passenger in a rally car, it is the travelling through a tunnel of trees, approaching corners at brake-neck speed and going round corners at 50 miles per hour that is the most terrifying.

For MacCrone though, he becomes almost oblivious to the speeds at which he’s travelling. “Once you’re tuned in, I think everything slows down,” he said.

“Your brain catches up with the speed you’re going at and time slows down. When I’m at my best, I’m really calm, everything’s moving slowly and everything becomes easy.

“I’ve had days when I’ve felt that nothing can go wrong - although sometimes that can be dangerous in a rally car because you can feel invincible that’s when it gets dangerous. When you’re not used to it, it’s pretty mind-blowing though.”

MacCrone has had quite a time of it over the last couple of years. In 2015, he was involved in a serious accident during the Mull rally in which he was badly injured and his co-driver, Andy Mort died. The crash did, admits MacCrone, affect him severely and there were times when he wondered if he would ever return to rallying.

However, he ultimately overcame his demons and one year after the accident, regained his Rally of Mull crown. The after effects remain, though. “My confidence took a massive knock after the accident,” he said. “At the time, I thought that was it, that I’d never come back.

“So when I did the Mull rally again the year after and won, that was great and that’s when I thought yeah, I can really get back. It has definitely changed my perspective on things though - before I had my accident, I was taking it very, very seriously and I maybe didn’t enjoy it as much as I should have.

“So that’s changed because at the end of the day, enjoying it is the most important thing.”

Rallying has been on the receiving end of some bad press in recent years, with fatal accident enquiries and cancellation of events, including this year’s Mull Rally, dominating the headlines.

It is, says MacCrone, regrettable that the positive side of the sport is being somewhat overshadowed. “There’s a lot of negativity just now and it’s such a shame,” he said.

“There is though, quite a lot of ignorance, and some of the reporting doesn’t understand the sport which is a pity so it’d be nice if people did a bit more research into it and took more time to get things right.

“I definitely worry of what might happen to rallying - this stuff with the cancellation of the Jim Clark Rally and Mull – these are two iconic rallies and world renowned events and so to not have then would be a great shame.”