Special Colin McRae rally
Tribute to the late Colin in Perth this weekend
Colin McRae’s legendary rallying career will be celebrated this weekend in a special event held in Scotland, with 140 entrants lining up in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally.
There’ll be some big names in attendance, too, with former-world champions Hannu Mikkola, Ari Vatanen and Stig Blomqvist driving Mk2 Ford Escorts. Björn Waldegård, who guided Ford towards its first manufacturers' world title in 1979 will also be in an Escort, as will McRae’s younger brother, Alister. Ford performance cars make up seventy of the cars on the grid. It’s a marque McRae goes hand-in-hand with, after four seasons in a Focus WRC car which he claimed nine wins in and a second-place in the 2001 world rally championship. Colin was tragically killed in a helicopter crash in September 2007, and this tribute follows a procession of Subaru Imprezas from his home town, Lanark to Prodrive’s HQ on Banbury. Over 1000 cars made the journey on August 31 2008, setting a world record. The Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally starts and finishes in Perth on Saturday September 27, with the route including five of the most evocative stages in British rallying including three of Colin’s favourites at Craigvinean, Drummond Hill and Errochty.