For anyone who has any knowledge or followed rallying throughout the world the McRae name will have came up on numerous occasions spanning over three decades.
In the small central Scottish town called Lanark the McRae name is one many will know well. 1943 saw the birth of Jimmy McRae followed by his two sons Colin in 1968 and Alister in 1970.
Jimmy (71) entered the world of motorsport and went on to be a highly successful rally driver and in the 1980’s winning the British Rally Championship five times and lifted the Circuit of Ireland trophy seven times. To this day he still enjoys being behind the wheel of a rally car and would still be a regular competitor, including local events such as Lurgan Park Rally and The Circuit of Ireland.
Motorsport was obviously in the blood within their household with both boys following in their father’s footsteps and being involved in competing. Colin by the age of 14 had won junior championships by competing in trials on motorbikes before progressing through to different forms of motorsport. Sadly a tragic helicopter accident claimed the lives of Colin (39), his son Johnny and two family friends in September 2007.
The youngest son/brother Alister (44) had a lot to live up to when it came to his turn at the age of twelve when he took his first steps into motorsport. As like Colin he also started out on motorbikes before progressing onto rallying and this is where he was able to demonstrate his skill and determination. Currently living in Australia he is still competing and to date he has competed in over 80 world championship events, winning many titles along the way.
One March evening while flicking through Facebook I noticed a post by Knockhill Race Circuit promoting The McRae Rally Challenge to be held at the circuit 16-17 May 2015. So with flights and hotel booked within a matter of hours we were due to head off to what promised to be an eventful and action packed weekend. Along with over 8,000 other spectator we weren’t disappointed.
As already said Colin started to win from a young age in his career. From motorbikes he moved along to auto testing by competing in an Austin Mini but it wasn’t until 1985 when he competed on his first rally. He worked in the family plumbing and heating business as an apprentice plumber throughout the week to fund his rallying events.
1987 saw him undertake his first world rally championship event in Sweden, although he finished a respectful 36th overall he did obtain 3rd in class in his Vauxhall Nova. This was the start of many top three finishes. Colin went on to drive for prestigious manufactures Subaru, Ford, Citroen, Skoda and Nissan to name a few.
In total throughout his career he won twenty-five events. For many, the most notable was the win on Rally GB with then co-driver Derek Ringer in 1995 while driving the iconic Subaru Impreza which needs no introduction – “L555 BAT” when Colin not only won the event but also the World Championship. This was the only World Championship Colin was to win. At the time he was the only British driver to win this title and he was also the youngest ever world rally champion. To date there has only ever been one other British driver to win the championship who was Richard Burns.
This 1995 win was the inspiration behind the event at Knockhill. The inaugural McRae Rally Challenge – sponsored by Beatson’s Building supplies took place to mark the 20th anniversary of this win.
Spectators to the event were treated to a full petrol fuelled weekend including a 30 mile, 10 stage rally organised by Coltness Car Club which included 40 top drivers including Alister McRae, David Bogie and Steve Perez to name a few.
Run alongside this were displays of a range of Group B cars which also completed live demo laps and a spectacular display with the largest selection of Colin’s competition cars ever seen in Scotland (or in fact the world for that matter) from his first auto test Mini through to his Nova, Sunbeam, Focus WRC’s, Impreza WRC’s and a few of his GrpA impreza’s .
There was also a performance worthy of the event. Amongst the additional attractions was stunt driver Terry Grant who completed a full lap of the undulating, 1.3 mile hillside circuit on two wheels in his Mitsubishi Lancer.
The event attracted a wide variety of drivers from past and present years. One such driver was local Dungannon man Kris Meeke who attended and drove Colin’s 2003 Citroen Xsara. Kris took to his twitter account to update while at the event saying “fantastic day at the McRaerallychallenge! To drive Colin’s #XsaraWRC was so cool! Thanks to all the fans!”
Kris took time out of his busy WRC schedule to be at the event as he has strong links with the McRae family. Kris himself began a rallying career and in 2001 came to the attention of Colin who seen the potential in him. Colin took Meeke under his wing by funding him in a British Junior Rally Championship assault in 2002.
Kris moved to live with Colin and his family for a period of time so got to know the McRae’s and no doubt was guided with many tips/hints from them all which he will continue to use as he continues to go from strength to strength in his own career. Just a few weeks before we travelled to Knockhill, Kris won his first WRC event in Argentina which he dedicated to Colin in an emotional stage end tribute.
On Saturday night after day one, a rally forum was hosted by Stewart Weir with a panel of great past and present drivers and navigators. Kris Meeke, Alister McRae, Jimmy McRae, Derek Ringer (co-driver to colin), Nicky Grist (co-driver to colin), Stig Blomqvist (The real Stig – driver 73-06), Arne Hertz (co-driver for Stig and Hannu) and Hannu Mikkola (driver – 73-93) were in attendance. This allowed Stewart to question them and for the audience to gain many funny stories, memories and true experiences from rallying through the years, it was entertaining and humbling.
Sunday saw the final day of the event and the last stages of the rally challenge. Throughout the two days the battle for podium was very close. From day one it was evident that David Bogie and Alister McRae were both out to win with the two Scots going head to head throughout the days, but sadly it wasn’t to be for Bogie. On stage 8 he received a puncture and was unable to continue in this stage so lost valuable seconds. McRae went on to take 1st in the rally which was a fitting tribute to Colin.
“I did get one fright,” said Alister, “we came over a brow in the rain and the car stepped out at the back dragging me off the road into the mud, but I spotted a gap in the trees, went through that, and popped back out on to the stage.” While Father Jimmy’s comment on his son’s win sums up the fun loving family perfectly, “he had to win otherwise I’d of kicked his a**e”
Results top 3
1, Alister McRae / Craig Ritchie, Proton Satria, 32 minutes 24 seconds
2, Aaron Newby / Paula Swinscoe, Subaru Impreza, 33:36
3, John Rintoul / Ross Hynd, Hyundai Accent WRC, 17:19
The whole event was professionally run and a real tribute to colin (for many an emotional one) and his achievements, but I think for many the highlight of the weekend had to be the parade lap of Colin’s cars. A lot of them privately owned by collectors, got the chance to get their tyres warmed up and complete demo laps. To witness and hear all the cars being driven in one place at the same time, especially the Subaru’s including “L555 BAT” was just something else, and a memory that will last forever.
If anything, this weekend showed that the memory of Colin will always live on in the hearts of many rally fans and I dare say his mantra will live on for longer…
McRae Rally Challenge Top Ten:
1, Alister McRae / Craig Ritchie, Proton Satria, 32 minutes 24 seconds
2, Aaron Newby / Paula Swinscoe, Subaru Impreza, 32.36
3, John Rintoul / Ross Hynd, Hyundai Accent WRC, 33:19
4, John Paterson / Craig Wallace, Ford Escort II, 33:38
5, Quintin Milne / Stephen O’Hanlon, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9, 33:47
6, John MacCrone / Alasdair MacCrone, Ford Fiesta R5, 33:56
7, Tom Morris / Ashleigh Morris, MG Metro 6R4, 34:05
8, Ian Paterson / Helen Brown, Subaru Impreza N10, 34:19
9, Gordon Shedden / Stuart Loudon, Ford Escort, 34:25
10, Alan Kirkaldy / Garry Muir, Ford Escort, 34:27
Source knockhill.com