Jimmy McRae tackles Wales Rally GBposted in WRC28 | 10 | 2016

    SCOTS RALLY LEGEND, five-times British champ Jimmy McRae, will tackle this weekend’s Wales Rally GB 40 years after he made his first appearance in the World Championship event (Related: Colin McRae enters Hall of Fame).

    And veteran McRae celebrates his 73rd birthday today, coinciding wit the start of the three-day event through the demanding Welsh forests.

    McRae will contest the WRGB National Rally behind the wheel of an identical Vauxhall Magnum to the one he campaigned back in 1976.

    “The car looks exactly the same as it did then … as indeed do I!”, McRae laughed.

    Worth highlighting that McRae didn’t start rallying until he reached 31 but he still found the time to notch up five British Championship titles and to teach two of his sons to become international stars.

    Like their father before them, both Colin and Alister won British crowns and Colin went on to become this country’s first-ever World Rally Champion in 1995.

    Starting so late in life, Jimmy couldn’t waste any time making his mark and, while 1976 is remembered by most for Roger Clark’s victory, further down the field McRae’s WRC debut was almost as impressive and significant.

    Jimmy-McRae-back-behind-the-wheel-of-the-Vauxhall-Magnum-40-years-on-1--1-.jpg

    “I’d only started rallying a couple of years earlier, so it was a pretty daunting experience to find myself in the World Championship,” he explained.

    “It was a very tough rally and we were only in a Group 1 Magnum, but we managed to finish 12th overall and second in class, so it was a pretty special occasion for me. It also set me up as a works driver for Vauxhall for many years to come.”

    Back then, of course, the event travelled all around the country whereas today the spectacular action takes place predominantly in the Welsh forests. McRae clearly is a fan of both formats.

    “On that first event we started in Bath and the route went through the Midlands, north Yorkshire, the Scottish borders, the Lake District and back through Wales,” he continued.

    “We completed 70 stages totalling nearly 450 miles; you couldn’t drive flat-out all the way, particularly in a Group 1 car as you’d break it. I did feel the event lost a bit of its magic when it first became more regional, but now the atmosphere is coming back and, once again, it’s the place be – that’s why I keep coming back.”

    As you’d expect, over the past 40 years McRae has experienced more than his fair share of highs and lows on what’s always been one of the most challenging rounds on the WRC calendar.

    Jimmy-McRae-and-Ian-Grinrod--MG-Metro-6R4--on-the-1986-RAC-Rally.jpg

    “Finishing on the podium twice and being the first two-wheel drive car home was pretty special,” he said, referring to his two third place finishes.

    The first of these came in 1983 when his Opel Manta 400 was beaten only by the all-conquering four-wheel-drive Audi quattros of Stig Blomqvist and Hannu Mikkola.

    The second came four years later when Jimmy was rallying a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth and finished hot on the heels of Juha Kankkunen’s victorious Lancia Delta HF 4WD and Blomqvist in a factory-entered Ford.

    Those podiums, though, weren’t the only memorable moments. McRae still savours the chance he had to drive an MG Metro 6R4 in 1986 when he finished eighth.

    “That was a fantastic opportunity and another highlight as we knew those Group B cars were about to be banned,” he said, before switching to the personal pleasure experienced through the success of his two sons.

    “Then, of course, there’s 1994 when Colin won for first time and 1995 when he won again and, with victory, the world title. Alistair finished fourth that year, too, so all-in-all it was a great family effort.”

    Jimmy-McRae-back-behind-the-wheel-of-the-Vauxhall-Magnum-40-years-on-2.jpg

    As for lows on the gruelling event? “There have been plenty of those over the years,” he grinned, “but 1980 was probably the biggest. We were rallying the Vauxhall Chevette HSR and I had just taken the outright lead from Henri Toivonen in Kielder Forest, when I stuck it into a bog – that was pretty disappointing.”

    More recently McRae suffered more frustration on last year’s WRGB National Rally when forced to retire on the final stage when set for a top 10 overall position and second place in his class for historic cars.

    It’s the kind of result he would love to achieve again this weekend. By his own admission, though, it is going to be a tough ask.

    “The bad weather really took its toll on some of the more modern cars last November, so that showing might be hard to repeat,” he admitted. “My aim must be to finish 12th – that would match my first result from 1976 and that seems to be a pretty perfect target.”

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    Jim McGill

    Captions:

    Main Photo: Jimmy McRae with world champion son Colin

    Top & Bottom: Jimmy McRae back behind the wheel of the Vauxhall Magnum 40 years after debut

    Middle: Jimmy McRae and Ian Grinrod (MG Metro 6R4) on the 1986 RAC Rally

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