Jimmy McRae

Last updated

Jimmy McRae
Jmcrae.jpg
McRae on a stage rally in Scotland. April 1993
Personal information
Nationality Flag of Scotland.svg Scottish
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British
Born (1943-10-28) 28 October 1943 (age 80)
Lanark, Scotland
World Rally Championship record
Active years1976–2004
Co-driver Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ian Muir
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Nicholson
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ian Grindrod
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rob Arthur
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Senior
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Chris Wood
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Pauline Gullick
Teams Vauxhall, Opel, Austin Rover
Rallies25
Championships 0
Rally wins 0
Podiums2
Stage wins15
Total points56
First rally1976 RAC Rally
Last rally2015 Wales Rally GB

James Steele McRae (born 28 October 1943) is a British former rally driver. He was highly successful in the British Rally Championship, winning the title a record five times in 1981, 1982, 1984, 1987 and 1988 which as of 2023 still stands. In the European Rally Championship for drivers, he was runner-up in 1982, while his highest placing in the World Rally Championship was fifteenth in 1983. McRae runs a plumbing business in his home town of Lanark. [1] He and his wife Margaret had three sons, Colin, Alister and Stuart. Both Colin and Alister McRae were World Rally Championship drivers, with Colin winning the world championship in 1995. McRae's brother-in-law Hugh "Shug" Steele is also a former rally driver. [2]

Contents

Career

Jimmy began his motorsport career riding in Scottish scrambles (motocross) and he was second placed in the 1969 Scottish ACU Scrambles Championship, riding an Edgar Bros, Edinburgh AJS Y4 250cc Stormer. [3] [4] He started his rallying at the age of 31 driving his own Mk1 Cortina fitted with Lotus running gear followed by an Escort Mk1 twin cam. The following year he approached SMT and drove a Group 1 Vauxhall Magnum for them culminating in a works drive the following year in a DTV Gp 1 Magnum. In 1978 he was promoted to the full DTV team and drove a Group 4 Vauxhall Chevette HS then HSR in the British Rally Championship alongside a single cam Chevette in the Castrol Autosport Series, narrowly missing out on the title to Malcolm Wilson.

McRae at the 2008 Colin McRae Forest Stages Jimmy McRae - 2008 Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally.jpg
McRae at the 2008 Colin McRae Forest Stages

Throughout his career, McRae drove for a number of different teams, including Vauxhall, Opel & Ford reaching a pinnacle during his spell in the Rothmans Rally Team, driving an Opel Manta 400. During his time at Rothmans, his teammates were Ari Vatanen, Walter Röhrl and Henri Toivonen. He then progressed to the MG Metro 6R4.

Though mostly retired from motorsport now, McRae still occasionally competes on historic rallies and some Scottish Rally Championship events, with some occasional outings on the Wales Rally GB. In 2006 he won the Roger Albert Clark Rally in a Stobart Motorsport sponsored Mark 2 Ford Escort.

In September 2008, McRae was one of a number of ex-world and British champions to take part in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally in memory of his son, who died in 2007. He drove a Porsche 911 on the rally. The impressive entry list included ex-World Championship drivers Hannu Mikkola, Ari Vatanen, Björn Waldegård, Stig Blomqvist, Malcolm Wilson, Russell Brookes, Andrew Cowan and Louise Aitken-Walker.

McRae took part in the 2014 British Historic Championship in a Firenza Can Am finishing fourth. He also took part in the 2014 Wales Rally GB for the first time in ten years.

Racing record

Complete WRC results

YearEntrantCar12345678910111213141516WDCPts
1976 SMT Rallying with DTV / Castrol Vauxhall Magnum Coupé MON SWE POR KEN GRE MOR FIN ITA FRA GBR
12		N/AN/A
1977 SMT Rallying with DTV / Castrol Vauxhall Magnum Coupé MON SWE POR KEN NZL GRE FIN CAN ITA FRA GBR
Ret		N/AN/A
1978 Dealer Team Vauxhall Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS MON SWE KEN POR GRE FIN CAN ITA CIV FRA GBR
Ret		NC0
1979 Dealer Team Vauxhall Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS MON SWE POR KEN GRE NZL FIN CAN ITA FRA GBR
12		 CIV NC0
1980 Dealer Team Vauxhall Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HSR MON SWE POR KEN GRC ARG FIN NZL ITA FRA GBR
Ret		 CIV NC0
1981 Dealer Team Opel Opel Ascona 400 MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRE ARG BRA FIN ITA CIV GBR
Ret		NC0
1982 Rothmans Opel Rally Team Opel Ascona 400 MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRE
6		 NZL BRA FIN ITA CIV GBR
Ret		33rd6
1983 Rothmans Opel Rally Team Opel Manta 400 MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRE
6		 NZL ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR
3		15th15
1984 Opel Euro Team Opel Manta 400 MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRE NZL ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR
7		36th4
1985 Opel Euro Team Opel Manta 400 MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRE NZL ARG FIN ITA CIV GBR
6		34th6
1986 Austin Rover World Rally Team MG Metro 6R4 MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRE NZL ARG FIN CIV ITA GBR
8		 USA 49th3
1987 Ford Motor Company Ltd Ford Sierra RS Cosworth MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRE USA NZL ARG FIN CIV ITA
Ret		 GBR
3		23rd12
1988 Gary Smith Motorsport Ford Sierra XR4x4 MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRE USA NZL
Ret		 ARG FIN CIV ITA NC0
Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 GBR
Ret
1989 Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 SWE MON POR KEN FRA GRE
4		29th10
Gary Smith Motorsport Ford Sierra RS Cosworth NZL
Ret		 ARG FIN AUS ITA CIV
Ford Motor Company Ltd GBR
12
1990 Shell Oil UK Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4X4 MON POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN AUS ITA CIV GBR
Ret		NC0
1993 Shell Helix Motor Oils Volkswagen Golf GTI MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC ARG NZL FIN AUS ITA ESP GBR
Ret		NC0
1997 Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai Accent X3 MON SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRC NZL FIN IDN ITA AUS GBR
32		NC0
2003 Jimmy McRae Subaru Impreza 555 MON SWE TUR NZL ARG GRC CYP GER FIN AUS ITA FRA ESP GBR
17		NC0
2004 Jimmy McRae Subaru Impreza 555 MON SWE MEX NZL CYP GRC TUR ARG FIN GER JPN GBR
Ret		 ITA FRA ESP AUS NC0

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap in class)

YearTeamCarClass12345678910111213DCPtsClass
1990 Ecosse Motorsport BMW M3 B OUL DON
10‡		 THR
Ret		 SIL OUL SIL
16		 BRH
10‡		 SNE BRH BIR DON THR SIL 36th225th
Source: [5]

‡ Endurance driver (ineligible for points).

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References

  1. ↑ ":: Stobart Motorsport ::". Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  2. ↑ "Hugh 'Shug' Steele – rally profile". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  3. ↑ "Interview: Jimmy McRae, rally legend and famous father – Part 1". Rallysportmag.com. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  4. ↑ "Lunch with... Jimmy McRae". Motorsportmagazine.com. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  5. ↑ de Jong, Frank. "British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
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