The political aspect of the inaugural RallyScotland, on to which which Alex Salmond and his SNP cronies have foisted the expensive ‘Homecoming’ banner, may be questionable; but for Alister McRae this week’s three-day event has, truly, allowed him to come home.
For the past two-and-a-half years the former British rally champ and World Rally Championship regular — first with Hyundai and then Mitsubishi — has lived his life with wife Tara, and kids Emmie and Max, in Perth. Not the Fair City, which will see TW Steel-backed RallyScotland roar into action this evening, but Perth, Western Australia.
“The lifestyle just suits us perfectly,” McRae, who will celebrate his 39th birthday next month, said yesterday as he finalised his preparations for the event, the final round of the Intercontinental Rally Championship, in pouring rain in the Trossachs.
“Definitely the weather’s far better and we’re all happy out there. Plus there are so many opportunities. But it’s always nice to come home and I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into the mud and glaur of the Scottish forest stages again.”
Of course, for any Scot travelling home from halfway around the world to see family and close friends, it’s an emotional experience. For McRae, even moreso. This week marked 26 months since his brother Colin died in a helicopter crash with his son Johnny, and while time heals, memories never fade.
“I’ve got so many good memories of Colin. That’s what helps keep me going,” continued Alister, whose 66-year-old dad, five-times British champ Jimmy, will contest the rally in the Ford Sierra he used to win the 1988 British Championship.
“We always had great fun and loads of laughs whether it was rallying, having a family get-together or generally just mucking about. Even though Colin’s not here, being back rallying in Scotland reminds me of those days. It’s great to be back.”
But anyone who thinks McRae is back in Scotland purely for sentimental reasons should think again; the 38-year-old believes he can win on home soil in his Proton Satria Super 2000, despite being forced to retire from RallyChina, the final round of the Asia-Pacific Championship on Sunday.
“China was going well,” he explained. “We were comfortably fourth, pushing for a podium finish on the final day when the lower suspension arm came loose and we had to stop. It was a real pity, but it was great to spend more time in the car.”
Today’s outing will be only McRae’s third competitive rally in the Proton following Indonesia and China, but for McRae it will be a return to familiar territory.
Following tonight’s opening spectator special stages in the grounds of Scone Palace, tomorrow sees the 70-odd crews led by McRae — organisers have seeded the cars specifically to ensure the Scot is the first to start the initial stages — tackle many of Scotland’s most famous forest stages between Perth and Blair Atholl.
“It’s ground I know well having competed in many rounds of the Scottish Rally Championship and, most recently the McRae Forest Stages, the final round of the SRC which is based in Perth,” he said. “They’re fantastic stages and I can’t wait to get into them with the Proton.”
The superlight, super-quick four-wheel-drive Proton will be a change from the two-wheel-drive MkII Ford Escort in which McRae won the Historic Class in the 2008 McRae Stages, an event won overall by Cumbria’s Matthew Wilson’s Ford Focus World Rally Car.
Wilson, in fact, will debut Ford’s all-new Fiesta S2000 by running ahead of the main field through the stages as official Safety Car.
The 500-mile event finishes at Stirling Castle on Saturday after the closing six forest stages deep in the Trossachs and McRae admits he’s looking forward to going head-to-head with the Peugeot of newly-crowned IRC champ, Dungannon’s Kris Meeke, the driver the Scot himself coached early in his career.
“I always knew Kris was a class act,” McRae, who will be joined by 2009 Scottish champ David Bogie, the 22-year-old from Dumfries, in the field, continued. “Colin took him under his wings early on and he sat with me a few times in the car. He’s quick and I’m not surprised to see him shine this year. All he needed was the break in the right car, and he’s done brilliantly.
“I think he’ll be tough to beat. Kris has won four rounds already this season and I know he’s desperate to win a fifth. Hopefully though we can put him under pressure and if we don’t win, at least hopefully I can bag a podium.
“One thing’s for sure, it’s going to be a fantastic weekend. This is the biggest rallying and motorsport event in Scotland for more than 20 years and to be part of it is brilliant. Hopefully I can give the thousands of Scottish rallying fans something to cheer about. Believe me, I’ll certainly be doing everything I can to win.”
JM