Colin McRae's 10 greatest rallies ranked

To an entire generation of rally fans, Colin McRae was rallying. The flamboyant Scotsman, who became the first British driver to win the World Rally Championship title 25 years ago this weekend, burst onto the scene with a Talbot Sunbeam in the Scottish Rally Championship and quickly made a name for himself as a man in a hurry.

He signed his first professional contract with Prodrive in 1991 and rewarded David Richards' faith by winning two British Rally Championship titles - including a clean sweep of every round in 1992 - before moving up to the WRC full-time for 1993.

There were plenty of shunts, but the moments in between were magic and within three years had conquered the world with Subaru, having forged a reputation built on the solid foundation of awe-inspiring car control. McRae had the inherent ability to make a car dance to his tune, and drove the car on the throttle via the seat of his pants. He couldn't really explain what he did or how he did it, he just cracked on and stopped the clocks quicker than the rest.

With the help of his father Jimmy and brother Alister, as well as friends and colleagues, Autosport counts down the much-missed McRae's greatest drives.

10. 1988 Tweedies Daihatsu Rally

Car: Nissan 240RS
Finished: 1st

This one is all father Jimmy's memory, with a little bit of wife Alison in there, courtesy of Colin McMaster's fine tome, McRae, Just Colin.

"Can we talk about the Tweedies? That was a bit of a special one. That was Colin's first win and it was also the first rally I won, back in 1974. I think it might have been called the Autumn Stages or something like that when I won it. But it was the same rally, that was something nice - a wee bit of history there for you.

"The event used great stages, the likes of Eskdalemuir, Twiglees - all the stages in the Tweed Valley. It was a great event. Colin was doing it in a Nissan 240RS. He'd finished second in that car on a rally earlier in 1988 and then, just before, he'd finished second on the Jim Clark in a Peugeot 205. But he still hadn't won a rally, until the Tweedies Daihatsu Rally. He won that one. Do you remember who his co-driver was?"

"I felt completely safe in the car with Colin. He was great in the car, so calm and composed all the time" Alison McRae

His co-driver was the future Mrs McRae, Alison Hamilton as she was then. She was no stranger to the co-driver's seat and had navigated McRae Jr to second on that Jim Clark, but the 240RS was a different proposition: "I was around at Colin's house having a look at the car. I loved being at his house, there was always something going on - always a buzz about the place. And, he was so committed to the cars and driving, it was the only way I was ever going to see him!

"Anyway, I was having a look at that car [the 240RS] and it looked like a beast. I leaned in to have a look at the speedo and I saw 200, 'Oh my God, this thing is a space rocket!' I didn't say anything to Colin that night, but I was worried sick. When we were driving out to the stages, I said to Colin, "So, are we going to be going 200mph?"

"He said, 'Alison, that's kilometres per hour'. I was like, 'Oh, right...' I'll be honest, I was more of a passenger than a co-driver on that event - but we still won and I felt completely safe in the car with Colin. He was great in the car, so calm and composed all the time."

By the end of the day, the rocketship 240RS was 27 seconds up on Richard Wheeler's Ford Escort, with Murray Grierson's similar Ford just five seconds further back in third. McRae's uncle Hugh Steele ('uncle Shug' - his cars feature more heavily further down this story) also made it just into the top 20 in a Talbot Sunbeam.

9. 1991 Manx Rally

Car: Subaru Legacy RS
Finished: 1st

When the unforgiving Northern Irish lanes exploited a weakness in the Subaru Legacy RS's transmission, and the gearbox on McRae's Rothmans-backed car blew itself to pieces, a Shell Oils British Open Championship battle became far closer than it really should have been.

In all honesty, rolling off the road on the Welsh Rally earlier that year hadn't helped matters, but Prodrive had a plan when Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4x4 driver Russell Brookes - forever a thorn in the side of McRae Sr's British title aspirations - led Junior by five points heading into the 1991 Manx Rally.

That plan was to bring French asphalt expert Francois Chatriot to the event and have him act as McRae's wingman. And it worked for the first three of the 41 stages. On the fourth, he dropped it coming into a left-hander and backed it into a wall. The shortened Subaru slipped 10 places. Ultimately, Chatriot would recover to complete the task and move ahead of Brookes with two stages remaining.

Up front, McRae was two and a half minutes in the clear. That rally told McRae Sr plenty about his son's approach: "Colin always liked the Manx, and that was his fourth or fifth start on the event. He'd been over there in the Vauxhall Nova for a couple of years and he'd shown some good speed in that car. For 1991, Prodrive had brought this Tarmac expert over to sort of show Colin the way. He stuffed it off backwards and bashed the back of the car in and this young, up-and-coming guy blew everybody else into the weeds.

"To win a rally like the Manx, back in those days, was tough. There was a lot of mileage involved [252 competitive miles] and to be out in front for a long time like Colin was, it wasn't easy. It showed some real maturity to drive like that. I was impressed with that performance."

A month later, and five-time champion McRae Sr was even more impressed with his son when Colin delivered a sixth British title to the family (a seventh would follow in Colin's second year in the Rothmans Legacy, and an eighth was delivered by brother Alister in 1995). It was becoming increasingly obvious that Colin's talents needed to be tested - or displayed - on the international arena.

8. 1996 Acropolis Rally

Car: Subaru Impreza 555
Finished: 1st

Alister McRae: "I was going to go for the Safari win in 1999, but dad's already nabbed that one. I'll take his first Acropolis win. He won that event five times and any one of those wins was impressive, but the first win really showed people that Colin just wasn't hard on cars. He was always perceived as this really flamboyant driver with a flat-out, pretty balls-to-the-wall style. But when he won that Acropolis it changed some of those opinions.

"I remember I was doing gravel notes for Colin on one of those Acropolis Rallies, I can't remember the exact year, it doesn't matter. But it was one of the events where he and Carlos [Sainz] were in the same team. Carlos just couldn't believe the speed Colin was managing without damaging the car.

"Colin understood that the best way to win a rally was to do so by being as easy on the car as possible - that's what he did on the Acropolis" Alister McRae

"That ability to understand the mechanical limitations of a car came from lots of areas when Colin was growing up. We always had to build our own cars. He was always either rallying or preparing those cars; he understood the mechanical side so well.

"The other area was probably motocross and trials riding. Before we got in cars - and once we'd started competing in rallies - Colin and I would be out on motorbikes a lot. Not only does that give you a real sense of balance that can be taken to a car, but it also lets you understand from the mechanical side how hard you can push parts and yourself on the bike. Colin understood that the best way to win a rally was to do so by being as easy on the car as possible - that's what he did on the Acropolis."

Predictably, Prodrive technical director David Lapworth has the data to back the theory up: "We timed his gear changes. He wasn't the fastest through the gears, but he had a natural ability to synchronise those changes. Even though he always used his left foot to brake, we rarely had problems with the dogs in Colin's gearboxes."

For the remainder of his career, McRae would be as likely to win an Acropolis or a Safari as he would an RAC or a New Zealand. And the approach remained the same. Talk to Malcolm Wilson about the state of a Ford Focus RS WRC when McRae had finished a rough rally, and the Cumbrian admits he was pleasantly surprised: "You would think it was a bit out of character, but Colin just instinctively knew what sort of punishment a car could take on some of these rougher rallies. He knew it wasn't just speed that was needed to win rallies, he knew mechanical sympathy counted for plenty too."

7. 1988 Scottish Rally

Car: Vauxhall Nova Sport
Finished: 9th, 1st in class

Jimmy McRae is coming towards the end of his own list, but he hasn't mentioned the 1988 Scottish. He needs prompting... He smiles. Then smiles less.

"I was going to keep that one for myself. I'd been second on that rally six times before I finally won it in 1988. Colin had done it twice before that, once in the Talbot Sunbeam and once in the Vauxhall Nova - but he didn't finish either of those. Then he came back in the Nova in 1988 and nearly stole the show."

Nearly, but not quite. Since 1977, McRae Sr had started the biggest rally in his homeland 12 times, and six runner-up placings were quite enough, especially when his own car club had cost him a win: "I finished second to Hannu [Mikkola] one year. He'd clipped a kerb in Strathclyde Park and broken a track rod end. My own bloody brother-in-law Hugh Steele and Coltness Car Club helped him get out of the stage. For the rest of the rally, we were leading, but we were just watching him catching us. Ian [Grindrod, co-driver] said: "He's going to get us." And Mikkola did, in the second-to-last stage: "I remember seeing the boys from Coltness afterwards and telling them they had a lot to answer for, the bunch of smartarses!

"But seriously, 1988 was a great event for us. It was another fantastic drive from Colin to finish ninth and win his class by a big margin [12 minutes]. And that Nova was nothing special. It wasn't like it was some Vauxhall Dealer Sport car or anything like that, it was the same car Colin and Barrie [Lochhead, close family friend] worked on every weekend that it wasn't out competing. It was probably the busiest car in British rallying, that thing.

"I remember talking to Andrew Cowan not long after that rally. He'd been spectating somewhere in the Borders and he told me, 'They were all coming through looking OK, but then your son arrived in that Nova... We were standing on a left-right and, bloody hell! There was no corner for that car! He went through going like hell.'

"That was how Colin got that result on that rally - he was just flat-out everywhere in a 1300cc Nova. Every time we were in service, we'd just have a quick word: 'Everything OK?' 'Aye, no bother.' And away he'd go again. It was some result from Colin, and mine wasn't too bad either!"

It wouldn't be long before Colin joined Jimmy in handling some rather more powerful machinery.

6. 1990 Hackle Rally

Car: Ford Escort Mk2
Finished: 1st

The end of the 1990 season will always be remembered for McRae's run to sixth place on the RAC Rally. He was driving an RED-built Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4x4, which, as the event progressed, became known as 'the shed' courtesy of the bolt 'borrowed' from a farm gate to hold Derek Ringer's door shut. After that result, Prodrive boss David Richards called Lanark and said the time had come to talk about Colin. That telephone call sparked one of the most successful and recognisable partnerships in world motorsport.

But this bit's not about that rally. Prior to the RAC, McRae's 1990 had been a rollercoaster, and a wet October in Perthshire seemed an unlikely place to further uncover a talent as rare as McRae's. Even more unlikely was the machinery used.

"My brother-in-law called to ask if Colin fancied doing an event in his Escort," recalls Jimmy McRae. "I told him, 'Aye, I'm sure he'd be up for that...'"

"Colin was loosening his belts and leaning across to my side of the car. I realised we were going so quick the wiper on his side was lifting off the screen, so at about 90mph he was leaning to my side to see where we were going" Robert Reid

There was nothing special about Uncle Hugh's Ford Escort Mk2, nothing flash, nothing fancy. "It was just a two-litre pinto engine," says McRae Sr. "It didn't have forest arches or anything like that. But Colin didn't mind. He jumped in and gave it a go."

And jumping in alongside him was one of Colin's mates - Robert Reid. "'Hey Rab, fancy the Hackle in Uncle Hugh's Escort?' Or something along those lines," says Reid, who would go on to become co-driver to McRae's arch enemy Richard Burns. "Don't forget, I knew Colin before I knew Richard. That day alongside McRae was something else..."

In the teeming rain, McRae launched the Escort through Perthshire at an astonishing rate. By the end, he'd seen off four-wheel-drive cars such as Jimmy Girvan's Toyota Celica GT-4 on a day where drive to all four wheels was a distinct advantage, and won
by two and a half minutes.

"Colin was an absolute pleasure to be in the car with," says Reid. "The whole event was pretty memorable, but the downhill, diagonal road across Drummond Hill sticks in the mind. Absolutely flat-out, I was aware that Colin was loosening his belts and leaning across to my side of the car. I wondered what the hell he was doing. I realised we were going so quick the wiper on his side was lifting off the screen, so at about 90mph he was leaning to my side to see where we were going."

5. 1992 Swedish Rally

Car: Subaru Legacy RS
Finished: 2nd

Three months on from leading a World Rally Championship round for the first time, Colin McRae and Derek Ringer arrived at their first foreign WRC counter with Subaru. The Scot had hit the front of the RAC Rally for two stages before dropping to fourth, then coming unstuck when he rolled into a Grizedale ditch. Sweden was different. There were no troughs to counter the peak of running second from early on day two of the four-day event.

"That was Colin's first foreign [WRC] rally in the Legacy," says Jimmy McRae, "and to take the car out to Sweden and be just a handful of seconds off the front on your first visit was very good. Sweden was the sort of place where you needed really natural car control, and that's what we saw from Colin."

Finishing behind local hero Mats Jonsson, and ahead of Swedish superstar Stig Blomqvist and Finnish legend Markku Alen, was an exceptional way to score the first of 42 WRC podiums.

Snow and ice weren't completely new in the Subaru - ahead of the Swedish start, McRae had completed course-car duties on the Arctic Rally in northern Finland, where he'd shown some stunning car control across full-winter stages. He was using the snowbanks like a natural - and a local.

When the Swedish started, he was ready for it and never put a wheel wrong. He was second on pace and just briefly, as darkness fell to combine with driving snow, McRae lopped 29s out of Jonsson's lead with a stunning run through the Vibberbo and Nisshyttan stages just south of Falun. Unfortunately, the air intake for the flat-four gathered snow the following day, it started to overheat and limited power. He would settle for second and the joint best-ever result for a non-Nordic driver on a very Nordic event.

McRae Sr had seen early on how important it was to get his boy out to Sweden to get the chance to compete in the Scandinavians' backyard, and it was for that reason that his first WRC outing had come in Karlstad, aged 19 and driving the Vauxhall Nova on the 1987 event. From a seeding of 107, he'd finished 36th with stand-in co-driver Mike Broad alongside (Ian Grindrod had suffered some broken ribs in a minor recce shunt). Two years later, he was back in Sweden and finishing 15th overall on his maiden four-wheel-drive appearance in a Ford Sierra XR4x4.

4. 1995 Catalunya Rally

Car: Subaru Impreza 555
Finished: 2nd

Even 25 years later, many fans know the story of this rally: Toyota was excluded for cheating; and Subaru team principal David Richards ordered a 1-2 finish for Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae. But as far as Jimmy McRae is concerned, too many people missed out on the real story - his son's pace on a rally he knew so little about.

Sainz had started all three WRC-counting Catalunya Rallies since the event's arrival on the calendar in 1991. He even drove a development Subaru Impreza 555 as course car on the Formula 2-only 1994 event. When McRae arrived at the start of the 1995 running, that would be his first taste of Catalan competition.

He didn't run lower than fourth, and moved up to second behind Sainz as day two progressed. By the end of the day, he was eight seconds behind his team-mate and title rival. It was then that Richards stepped in and said he expected both cars to be at the finish in that order the next day. There was, he reminded them, Subaru's maiden manufacturers' success to be considered.

"I think they both drove flat-out and for Colin to win that event was very, very good. As for what happened afterwards, what could I say to Colin?" Jimmy McRae

What happened next is a well-trodden tale. Sainz told McRae he'd never settle for second, so McRae refused to settle for second and charged into the lead. He hit the front on the third stage of the final day and looked set to stay there. Senior Subaru team members John Kennard, John Spiller and Nigel Riddle were sent to slow McRae down by standing in the middle of the road on the final stage. Fortunately, they sensed the Impreza wasn't for slowing and dived for cover as he thundered through at unabated speed. McRae won on the stages, but was forced to check in a minute late, promoting Sainz to the win DR had ordered a day earlier.

"Lost in all of that is a pretty special drive from Colin," says McRae Sr. "Don't forget, he was going there for the first time and going to Carlos's back yard. I don't know what people believe about what was said on that event - there were so many conflicting stories and I don't think Carlos wanted the team orders any more than Colin did.

"Carlos told Colin he wouldn't back off, and I don't think he did. I think they both drove flat-out and for Colin to win that event was very, very good. As for what happened afterwards, what could I say to Colin? I just had to remind him DR was the boss and he's the guy who pays the bills." But the championship fight was not over...

3. 1999 Safari Rally

Car: Ford Focus RS WRC 99
Finished: 1st

If ever there was a rally that demonstrated an alternative - and probably less fashionable - side to McRae's character it was the 1999 Safari. He and Nicky Grist arrived at the start in a Ford Focus WRC just two events old, short on testing and facing a route containing 600 competitive miles through three days in Africa.

McRae himself was quick to point out that the Safari was more of a marathon than a sprint. And, for the next three days, he proved himself to be a man made for marathons. The Focus ended day one with no brakes, lost boost on the climb to the 10,000-foot Mau Escarpment, and became prone to three rather than the full complement of four cylinders. What's more, McRae was driving with a broken thumb after bouncing the recce car off a tree stump.

When early leader Richard Burns retired his Subaru with suspension problems, McRae was there. But could he stay there? Yes he could. Particularly with his father on the road ahead of him: "I was doing his gravel notes on the event. That meant I was driving the recce car through the exact route ahead of him, looking out for any really difficult places that might have changed since they had been through on the recce. It was great to be part of the event and really good to keep in touch with everything.

"Some people were surprised when Colin won there. I wasn't. From the first time I sat in a rally car with him I knew he had mechanical sympathy. Yes, he was mega quick, but at the same time, when I was sitting there in the Sunbeam and the Nova, I was thinking just how easy he was on the car. He didn't put any unnecessary mechanical stress on anything.

"I think he got some of that from me. I was always fairly easy on cars and, when you were doing rallies like the old five-day Circuit of Ireland, you knew you had to take it steady and you knew how to pace yourself and the car to get to the finish."

And when McRae got to the finish of the 1999 Safari, there was some reception waiting. Three rallies in, and Ford and McRae were winning at world rallying's highest - and hardest - level. And, having done it on the rough stuff, McRae then took the Focus to Portugal and took another victory on smoother, faster dirt.

2. 1993 New Zealand

Car: Subaru Legacy RS
Finished: 1st

As reigning British Rally Champion, McRae became the UK's first winner of a WRC round since Roger Clark's 1976 RAC Rally success. And he did it in the best possible circumstances, pulling the win from the teeth of the toughest possible opposition in
the shape of a three-way fight between himself, Francois Delecour's Ford Escort RS Cosworth and the Toyota of Didier Auriol.

For much of the rally, there was little to split the top three. But McRae kept his cool and drove the Subaru Legacy RS straighter than ever to seal the deal.

"I wasn't there," says Jimmy McRae. "I can't remember why I didn't go. There was no job for me to do down there and I probably didn't want to fork out for the airfare - and DR [David Richards] wasn't going to pay! Instead, I sat by the telephone for the whole event.

"I'd say that was probably the first time Margaret and I opened a bottle at 11 in the morning!" Jimmy McRae

"Gary Smith [a Kiwi car-preparation expert] was keeping me as up-to-date as possible, but it was a bit of a nightmare trying to follow the thing. It's not like now, where you turn the phone on and you have all the results right up to the second. Back then we had to wait ages for the cars to come out of the stages and then for Gary to call us."

Quite how much of a final-leg drama was relayed to Lanark is debatable, but when a bolt came out of the cam cover and drained the sump of all its oil, the fate of the flat-four was feared. It survived - and McRae and Derek Ringer made history.

McRae Sr: "We'd been up all night waiting. This was a huge moment. It looked like it might have happened on a couple of occasions before, but this was big. Eventually Gary called and told us he'd won. I'd say that was probably the first time Margaret and I opened a bottle at 11 in the morning! Not long after the finish, I spoke to DR and then Colin came on the phone. He was pretty relaxed about things.

"We had a bit of a celebration that night, but I don't think we saw Colin for a while afterwards. I think he stayed away, he was doing some testing or an Asia Pacific [Rally Championship] round or something. But I'm sure we had another celebration when he did walk back through the door."

It was McRae Jr's only WRC win in the Legacy, but he'd finally got off the mark.

1. 1995 RAC Rally

Car: Subaru Impreza 555
Finished: 1st

Jimmy McRae: "After all the shenanigans in Spain, Colin was actually really relaxed coming into the RAC that year. Him and Carlos were equal on points, but Colin knew he had him on the ropes on the RAC. He'd led the event every year since 1991 and he'd won it the year before. He was confident. He had such a feel for the conditions and everything on that event. So much of the time you're driving in compromised conditions, with the grip changing and the weather going from rain to fog to ice, but he took all of that in his stride.

"It was a rally which he loved and one which really worked for him. He wasn't going to be beaten. He was third at the end of the spectator stages on the Sunday, but remember that time in Hamsterley first thing the next morning? He took near enough half a minute out of everybody.

"But then he had the puncture in Pundershaw. It was a long stage [36 miles] and they stopped to change where there were a few spectators to help out. But they dropped two minutes to Carlos. I thought, 'Oh, bloody hell. That's it then...'

"But Colin just annihilated everybody after that. He whacked the rock and damaged the front suspension in Kershope, but apart from that he just kept on taking the time out of Carlos. Ten seconds here, 20 there. It was unbelievable. And he was so calm, so cool about the whole thing. When we saw him in service, it seemed like it was us that were uptight - he was laughing and joking about things.

"It was a tricky one for me to follow. I didn't have an official job with the team on the event, so Margaret and I were in the car and trying to get to the end of as many stages and as many services as possible. And he just kept on coming, kept on pulling the time back. He came back past Carlos in Hafren and from then on it was done.

"Waiting at the end of the final stage in Clocaenog was a nightmare. He arrived, but then we had to keep an eye on the watch to see Carlos hadn't taken the time out of him. Then we could celebrate. A good few of his mates had been watching from Lanark and they all got in the car and came down to Chester to join in the night - it was a big one!

"That was a fantastic event for the McRaes. Alister was fourth and first privateer, in an Escort Cosworth. That came after he'd won the British title. I felt that Alister didn't get the recognition he deserved for that season - it was always going to be hard when his big brother won the world championship."