Racing Legends- Colin McRae- Early Days

Colin McRae was a rally superhero through the 90s and early 2000s and being the first British World Rally Champion his fan base was absolutely massive. Colin took the world by storm with his can do attitude and overly aggressive driving style; this is what made him a sensation to watch. As a motorsports fan and Professional Rider, I can honestly say that he moulded my childhood and made me try as hard as I could to achieve the goals i wanted.

The Beginning

Motorsports was already in Colin’s bloodline from Birth, being surrounded by cars and motorcycles from a very young age, his father Jimmy McRae was 5 times British Rally Champion, dominating through the 80s. Before long his son Colin was about to follow in his footsteps, but before rally, Colin’s teenage years was all about 2 wheels winning the Junior and Intermediate trails championship in 1980 and 81, Colin no doubt had the knack when it came to rider control and understanding the physics of a bike. Not before long his father Jimmy let him loose on 4 wheels. He completed his first rally in 1985 in his Sunbeam Talbot that he has been building on and off when he could after joining his fathers business.

Colin executed a monumental task in 1988 when took the crown Scottish Rally Rally Championship in his humble Vauxhall Nova as seen above. This was a monumental achievement beating the likes of his father wielding a Sierra Cosworth as his machine of choice, and the man killing machines known as Group B. Itching to show the world what he can do in the right car, Colin took the rains of his fathers Sierra.

Colins first WRC event he participated in was the 1987 Swedish rally behind the wheel of his trusty Vauxhall Nova. 2 years later piloting the Sierra finished 15th and then later that year showing the world what he was made of he finished a superb 5th overall at Rally New Zealand in his tail happy Sierra Cosworth.

By 1990 Colin was driving a 4x4 Sierra Cosworth and achived 6th place in that years RAC rally, despite binning it several times during the rally. This caught the eye of David Richards who was the Prodrive Boss and running a Subaru Legacy in the British Rally Championship. This would be the start of Colins Professional career as he dominated the British Rally Championship in 1991 and 1992. Soon the top brass at Subaru had seen the talent Colin McRae possessed, by 1993 Colin was promoted to the Factory Subaru Team.

In 1992 the British Rally Championship wasn’t Colin’s venture, he also made his debut in the British Touring Car Championship or better known as the BTCC making a one off appearance for the Prodrive run BMW Factory team at a place no better then his home round Knockhill. With Knockhill hemorrhaging Touring Car fans and Rally fans, it was game on. Colin finished 8th in the first race but was DQ’d in the 2nd Race due to a collision with Touring Car legend, Matt Neal. The Stewards deemed the incident avoidable and disqualified Colin.

To be continued….