'Colin McRae', MBE (born in
Lanark,
August 5,
1968) is a
Scottish former
World Rally Championship driver, the son of five-time British Rally Champion,
Jimmy McRae.
He won the world driver's title in
1995, was championship runner-up in
1996,
1997 and
2001, and third in
1998. He helped
Subaru to the
Manufacturers' title in 1995, 1996 and 1997, and
Citroën in
2003. He was awarded the title of
MBE (Member of the British Empire) by
Queen Elizabeth II in 1996.
Biography
Colin began his rally career in 1986, piloting a
Talbot Sunbeam. A regular competitor on
Scottish Rally Championship events, he was soon making a name for himself with his speed and exciting style of driving. His driving style drew many comparisons to
Ari Vatanen, the famous
Finnish rally driver who Colin had always idolised. He soon progressed to a
Vauxhall Nova, and then onto a
Ford Sierra XR 4x4. His first WRC exposure was in the 1987
Swedish Rally behind the wheel of his Nova, and again in 1989, driving the Sierra and finishing 15th overall. Later in '89, he finished 5th overall at
Rally New Zealand in a
rear wheel drive Sierra Cosworth. 1991 saw Colin join
Prodrive Subaru for the
British Rally Championship. He was twice the British champion in 1991 and 1992, soon graduating to 'works' status for the factory team.
WRC
McRae won his first WRC rally in
1993, piloting the Prodrive-built
Subaru Legacy in the
Rally New Zealand, before aiding Subaru to a three-year sweep of titles, including one for himself in 1995 after a thrilling final round duel on his home event, with team-mate and double world champion
Carlos Sainz. He later also won the 1998
Race of Champions.
After several years of varying success, Colin switched to the M-Sport
Ford team in
1999, behind the wheel of the new
Ford Focus WRC rally car. This move was rewarded with two quickfire wins at the
Safari Rally and
Rally Portugal. However he was to struggle with reliability woes for much of the rest of that season, although later he did narrowly miss out on a second driver's title with the M-Sport operation in 2001.
With victory on the
Safari Rally in
2002, McRae
made the record books as a driver with most event wins in the World Rally Championship. Erstwhile 2003 Citroën team-mates
Spaniard Carlos Sainz and
Frenchman Sébastien Loeb are among those to have since overtaken him.
In 2003, McRae decided to part ways with Ford and sign with the promising
Citroën team. However, the Scotsman could only muster seventh in the title race, with no rally victories. When hopes for a second stint at Subaru evaporated — the Japanese marque signed young talent
Mikko Hirvonen to partner 2003 World Champion
Petter Solberg — he was subsequently left on the sidelines for
2004.
As of 2006, he had participated in 146 WRC events, and been team mates of many drivers including Carlos Sainz,
Richard Burns, Ari Vatanen, and Sebastien Loeb.
Although not officially retired, McRae opted to take some time off from WRC and pursue other interests during his 'gap year', such as piloting a
Nissan truck in the
Paris Dakar Rally. He also contested the
24 Hours of Le Mans.
After his year-long absence from the sport in 2004, McRae made his return in a works
Škoda Fabia WRC on the following season's
Wales Rally GB, albeit on a strictly one-off basis. He netted seventh place in a car widely believed uncompetitive in WRC circles. However, his hard-fought result was overshadowed by the tragic death of fellow British competitor
Michael Park. Then came his bid for second place on his return in
Australia, dashed by clutch woes three stages from the finish. Meanwhile, McRae was believed to be on the lookout for the chance of a full-time return to the sport for
2006, following the Škoda works team's withdrawal from the WRC.
On
August 5 2006, Colin and co-driver
Nicky Grist competed for Subaru in the first live televised American rally in Los Angeles as part of the
X-Games. With 2 turns to go, Colin spectacularly flipped his Subaru Impreza, heavily damaging the front bumper and all but destroying the left front tyre. The car rolled back upright and he continued the race, finishing second.
In October 2006 it was furthermore announced that the pairing would serve as replacement for defending champion (and 2003 team-mate)
Sébastien Loeb in the Kronos Citroen team for the
Rally of Turkey, in light of the Frenchman breaking his arm in a bicycle accident.
[1] A final-stage alternator problem consigned them to a final placing outside the top ten. McRae's hopes for participation in the outstanding events in the
2006 calendar were subsequently unfulfilled.
WRC victories
:
Personal life
McRae moved to the principality of
Monaco in 1995, partly through his friendship with
David Coulthard.
[2] However, as his young family has grown up, he has spent more time back at his home in
Lanarkshire - accepting the higher tax liability of living in Scotland.
[3] McRae is married to Alison,
[4] and has two children, Hollie and Johnny.
[5]
His brother,
Alister, is also a professional rally driver and has enjoyed some success, including winning the British Rally Championship in 1995. His sister is a doctor in the University Hospital in County
Durham who also enjoys rally driving.
Colin McRae Rally
Colin McRae Rally 2005 computer game screenshot
The other key McRae association is that of the world of
computer games.
Codemasters first released its
Colin McRae Rally title in 1998, while version ''2'' was released in the year 2000 on
Sony's
PlayStation and PC, later ported to the
Game Boy Advance in 2002. A third version found a wide audience on the PC and
Xbox. Versions ''04'' and ''2005'' arrived in 2004, bringing an extremely enticing rally driving experience to gamers on all platforms, the latter also being ported to
Sony's PSP and
Nokia's N-Gage. '' was the next installment as the title for the next generation of the series. Codemasters confirmed the game will launch for the
PC,
Xbox 360 (June 20th) and later on
PlayStation 3 (September 4th), in 2007. A special edition for mobile phones will also be available from Codemasters Mobile.
References
1. "McRae steps in for injured Loeb", BBC Sport, October 4, 2006
2. "Q&A with Colin McRae", ''Racing Line''
3. The Real McRae: The Autobiography of Britain's Most Exciting Rally Driver (200), Colin McRae & Derek Alsopp, Ebury Press, ISBN 0091883962
4. "Colin McRae Rests At Home After Dakar Rally Retirement", Carpages.co.uk, January 2005
5. "Colin McRae to drive Fabia WRC on Rally GB", Skoda-Auto.com
External links
★
Colin McRae Official site
★
Codemasters
★
Colin McRae Official Sportswear Brand
★
Rallybase stats page
★
WRC Archive stats page
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
![Don\](images/articles/thumbs/beachrainthumb.jpg "Don\")
