Olympic hero Sir Chris Hoy tells the story of Britain's first-ever World Rally Champion, Colin McRae. Along with Colin's father, Jimmy, himself a five-time British Rally Champion, Sir Chris visits the scenes of Colin's greatest rally driving triumphs.
From exploring Colin's roots as a Scottish trials bikes champ to driving the route of the Dakar rally over the dunes of the Sahara desert, Sir Chris will re-live McRae's career and be trained to drive sideways by another big fan - American Rally Superstar Ken Block. Sir Hoy's final challenge will be to swap his push bike for a monster Subaru Impreza world rally car on a rough and ready stage of the RAC Rally, the home of Colin's famous 1995 victory.
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.
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... Read full story here: https://www.carthrottle.com/post/alq5o88/
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