Alister McRae

Last updated

Alister McRae
Alister mcrae.jpg
Alister McRae at the service area during the 2010 Rally Scotland
Personal information
Nationality Flag of Scotland.svg Scottish
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British
Born (1970-12-20) 20 December 1970 (age 53)
Lanark, Lanarkshire, Scotland
World Rally Championship record
Active years 1991 2004, 2006 2007, 2012
Co-driver Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Senior
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Chris Wood
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Chris Patterson
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Gordon Noble
Flag of New Zealand.svg Erin Kyle
Flag of Australia (converted).svg William Hayes
Teams Subaru, Hyundai World Rally Team, Mitsubishi
Rallies78
Championships 0
Stage wins5
Total points19
First rally1991 RAC Rally
Last rally 2012 Rally New Zealand

Alister McRae (born 20 December 1970) is a British rally driver from Scotland who competed in the World Rally Championship. He is the son of the five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and the younger brother of the late 1995 World Rally Champion, Colin McRae, and older brother of property entrepreneur Stuart McRae. His uncle Hugh "Shug" Steele is also a former rally driver. [1]

Contents

Career

Born in Lanark, McRae took his first foray into motorsport at the age of twelve, when he took up motorcycle trials and motorcross. But it was always rallying where he would demonstrate his true colours. Starting out by competing in Scottish Rally Championship events, success wasn't long in coming. In 1992, he won the prestigious Shell Scholarship and the production category of Great Britain's round of the World Rally Championship.

The following years saw further triumphs, culminating with McRae winning the British Rally Championship outright in 1995, at the wheel of a works Nissan Sunny. More manufacturer drives ensued, with a two-year contract being signed to drive the Formula 2 Volkswagen Golf. He famously competed alongside his brother on a one-off basis in the Subaru World Rally Team on the Rally of Great Britain of 1998.

McRae with a Hyundai Accent WRC at the 2001 Rally Finland Am2 hyundai.jpg
McRae with a Hyundai Accent WRC at the 2001 Rally Finland

His results and reputation led to his services being secured by the newest manufacturer to join the World Rally Championship, Hyundai. In 1999, he competed in the front wheel drive Coupe while simultaneously developing Hyundai's first world rally car, the Accent WRC, alongside veteran Swede Kenneth Eriksson. Then in 2000, he developed the car further during its first year of actual competition, scoring the manufacturer's first ever WRC points. In 2001, the fruits of two years' hard work began to show, with a series of points-scoring finishes (both drivers particularly impressing in the laborious conditions of that year's wet Rally Portugal) and a narrow miss of the podium on his home event, the Rally of Great Britain (which gave the Accent WRC and Hyundai's best finish in the WRC by that time).

McRae competing in the 2010 Rally Hokkaido Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 Rally Car 2010.jpg
McRae competing in the 2010 Rally Hokkaido

Following his performances with Hyundai, McRae was selected to join Mitsubishi, stalwart of the WRC, in 2002. This transpired to be a difficult year, as the Japanese manufacturer found itself in turmoil, with an uncompetitive new car and a massive management re-structure. Things got even worse for the team when McRae was forced to pull out for the rest of the season due to injuries following a mountain bike crash shortly after that year's Rally San Remo therefore further hindering the team's championship effort. [2] Mitsubishi subsequently pulled out of rallying at the beginning of the 2003 season, to build a new rally car from scratch, leaving McRae to piece together a sporadic privateer campaign at World Championship level, which was rewarded with a points-scoring showing in a Lancer Evolution in New Zealand.

McRae at the 2007 Race of Champions Alister McRae - 2007 Race of Champions.jpg
McRae at the 2007 Race of Champions

Undaunted by Mitsubishi's subsequent implicit resolve not to recall either himself or 2002 teammate François Delecour as the source of one of the few remaining factory opportunities sought to regroup for the 2004 season, McRae entered the 2004 Production World Rally Championship instead. He was on course to take the title on the last event before a mechanical failure struck, handing the title to Niall McShea.

In 2006, McRae successfully competed in the Chinese Rally Championship with the Wanyu Rally Team in a Mitsubishi Evo 9, along with a number of other selected international events. McRae also added to his tally of World championship appearances in the new Toyota Corolla S2000 at the 2006 Wales Rally GB, racking up four Group N stage wins.

McRae filled in for his brother Colin alongside F1 driver David Coulthard at the 2007 Race of Champions held at Wembley following Colin's death just two months earlier.

He participated in 2009 Dakar Rally.

He drove a Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 at the Indonesian leg of the APRC 2009. [3]

He made his FIA World Rallycross Championship debut in the 9th round of the 2017 season in France. [4]

Personal life

McRae is the father of Max McRae who is also a motorsport racer. [5]

Racing record

Complete WRC results

YearEntrantCar12345678910111213141516WDCPts
1991 Alister McRae Subaru Legacy RS MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN AUS ITA CIV ESP GBR
Ret
NC0
1992 Alister McRae Ford Sierra RS Cosworth MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRE NZL ARG FIN AUS ITA CIV ESP GBR
14
NC0
1993 Alister McRae Ford Sierra RS Cosworth MON SWE
EX
POR KEN FRA GRE ARG NZL FIN AUS ITA ESP NC0
555 Subaru World Rally Team Subaru Legacy RS GBR
10
1994 Nissan F2 Nissan Sunny GTi MON POR KEN FRA GRE ARG NZL FIN
15
ITA
12
GBR
Ret
NC0
1995 Alister McRae Ford Escort RS Cosworth MON SWE POR FRA NZL AUS ESP GBR
4
10th10
1996 SanYang MIT Motorsport Honda Civic VTi SWE KEN IDN GRE ARG FIN AUS
Ret
ITA ESP NC0
1997 S.B.G. Sport Volkswagen Golf Kit Car MON SWE
21
KEN POR
9
ESP FRA ARG GRE NZL FIN IDN ITA AUS
Ret
GBR
EX
NC0
1998 S.B.G. Sport Volkswagen Golf Kit Car MON SWE
Ret
KEN POR ARG
Ret
GRE NZL FIN
13
ITA
22
AUS
17
NC0
Hyundai Motor Sport Hyundai Coupé Kit Car ESP
19
FRA
15
555 Subaru World Rally Team Subaru Impreza WRC 98 GBR
Ret
1999 Hyundai Motor Sport Hyundai Coupé Kit Car Evo 2 MON SWE
Ret
KEN POR
13
ESP
Ret
FRA ARG GRE
Ret
NZL
20
FIN
20
CHN
10
ITA
Ret
AUS
14
GBR
Ret
NC0
2000 Hyundai Castrol World Rally Team Hyundai Accent WRC MON SWE
14
KEN POR
Ret
ESP
Ret
ARG
7
GRE
Ret
NZL
Ret
FIN
9
CYP FRA
12
ITA
16
AUS
Ret
GBR
11
NC0
2001 Hyundai Castrol World Rally Team Hyundai Accent WRC MON
7
SWE
Ret
17th4
Hyundai Accent WRC2 POR
6
ESP
11
ARG
9
CYP
7
GRE
15
KEN FIN
13
NZL
9
ITA
Ret
FRA
9
AUS
10
GBR
4
2002 Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer WRC MON
14
SWE
5
FRA
10
ESP
13
CYP
Ret
ARG
8
GRE
Ret
KEN
9
15th2
Mitsubishi Lancer WRC2 FIN
Ret
GER
Ret
ITA
Ret
NZL AUS GBR
2003 Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe Mitsubishi Lancer WRC2 MON SWE TUR NZL
6
ARG GRE CYP GER FIN AUS ITA FRA ESP GBR 17th3
2004 R.E.D. World Rally Team Subaru Impreza WRX STi MON SWE
17
MEX
Ret
NZL
13
CYP GRE TUR ARG FIN GER
17
JPN GBR
14
ITA FRA
15
ESP AUS
Ret
NC0
2006 Alister McRae Toyota Corolla S2000 MON SWE MEX ESP FRA ARG ITA GRE GER FIN JPN CYP TUR AUS NZL GBR
Ret
NC0
2007 Taylor Motorsport Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX MON SWE NOR MEX POR ARG ITA GRE FIN GER NZL
21
ESP FRA JPN IRE GBR NC0
2012 Proton Motorsports Proton Satria Neo S2000 MON SWE
37
MEX POR ARG GRE NZL
Ret
FIN GER GBR FRA ITA ESP NC0

PWRC results

YearEntrantCar1234567PWRCPoints
2004 R.E.D. World Rally Team Subaru Impreza WRX STi SWE
2
MEX
Ret
NZL
3
ARG GER
3
FRA
3
AUS
Ret
5th26

SWRC results

YearEntrantCar12345678SWRCPoints
2012 Proton Motorsports Proton Satria Neo S2000 MON SWE
7
POR NZL
Ret
FIN GBR FRA ESP 13th6

APRC results

YearEntrantCar1234567APRCPoints
1996 SanYang MIT Motorsport Honda Civic VTi THAIDNMYSNZLAUS
Ret
BEI-0
1997 S.B.G. Sport Volkswagen Golf Kit Car THACHINZLMYSIDNAUS
Ret
-0
1997 S.B.G. Sport Volkswagen Golf Kit Car THACHINZLMYSAUS
10
-0
2009 Proton R3 Malaysia Proton Satria Neo S2000 NCLAUSNZLJPNMYSIDN
Ret
CHN-0
2010 Proton R3 Malaysia Proton Satria Neo S2000 MAL
Ret
JPN
Ret
NZL
2
AUS
Ret
NCLIDNCHN
1
3rd78
2011 Proton Motorsport Proton Satria Neo S2000 MAL
3
AUS
4
NCL
3
NZL
5
JPN
2
CHN
1
1st153
2012 Proton Motorsport Proton Satria Neo S2000 NZL
4
NCL
Ret
AUS
2
MYS
1
JPN
Ret
CHN
1
2nd120

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results

(key)

Supercar

YearEntrantCar123456789101112WRXPoints
2017 Loco World RX Team Volkswagen Polo BAR
POR
HOC
BEL
GBR
NOR
SWE
CAN
FRA
24
LAT
GER
RSA
41st0

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References

  1. Shacki. "Hugh 'Shug' Steele - rally profile eWRC-results.com". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  2. "Rally Paradise, Alister McRae´s Profile". gamma.nic.fi. Archived from the original on 29 May 2006. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  3. "Alister McRae takes driver's seat in Neo S2000". Paultan.org. 21 September 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  4. "FIA World Rallycross Championship". Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  5. "McRae junior targets rally debut". WRC - World Rally Championship. 28 December 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Autosport
National Rally Driver of the Year

1995
Succeeded by
Sporting positions
Preceded by Race of Champions
Rally Master

1998
Succeeded by
Preceded by Asia-Pacific Rally Champion
2011
Succeeded by

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