Alister McRae
Alister McRae (born 20 December 1970) is a British rally driver 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. His uncle Hugh "Shug" Steele is also a former rally driver. [1] [2]
Alister McRae at the service area during the 2010 Rally Scotland | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | British |
Born | Lanark, Lanarkshire, Scotland | 20 December 1970
World Rally Championship record | |
Active years | 1991–2004, 2006–2007, 2012 |
Co-driver | Gordon Noble David Senior Chris Patterson Kyle Erin William Hayes |
Teams | Subaru, Hyundai World Rally Team, Mitsubishi |
Rallies | 78 |
Championships | 0 |
Stage wins | 5 |
First rally | 1991 RAC Rally |
Last rally | Currently Rallying in the APRC, IRC |
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 Alister 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.
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).
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.[3][4] 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.
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.
2006 saw McRae successfully competing 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.[5]
He made his FIA World Rallycross Championship debut in the 9th round of the 2017 season in France.[6]
Racing record
Complete WRC results
Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | Alister McRae | Subaru Legacy RS | MON | SWE | POR | KEN | FRA | GRC | NZL | ARG | FIN | AUS | ITA | CIV | ESP | GBR Ret |
NC | 0 | ||
1992 | Alister McRae | Ford Sierra RS Cosworth | MON | SWE | POR | KEN | FRA | GRE | NZL | ARG | FIN | AUS | ITA | CIV | ESP | GBR 14 |
NC | 0 | ||
1993 | Alister McRae | Ford Sierra RS Cosworth | MON | SWE EX |
POR | KEN | FRA | GRE | ARG | NZL | FIN | AUS | ITA | ESP | NC | 0 | ||||
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 |
NC | 0 | ||||||
1995 | Alister McRae | Ford Escort RS Cosworth | MON | SWE | POR | FRA | NZL | AUS | ESP | GBR 4 |
10th | 10 | ||||||||
1996 | SanYang MIT Motorsport | Honda Civic VTi | SWE | KEN | IDN | GRE | ARG | FIN | AUS Ret |
ITA | ESP | NC | 0 | |||||||
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 |
NC | 0 | ||
1998 | S.B.G. Sport | Volkswagen Golf Kit Car | MON | SWE Ret |
KEN | POR | ARG Ret |
GRE | NZL | FIN 13 |
ITA 22 |
AUS 17 |
NC | 0 | ||||||
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 |
NC | 0 | ||
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 |
NC | 0 | ||
2001 | Hyundai Castrol World Rally Team | Hyundai Accent WRC | MON 7 |
SWE Ret |
17th | 4 | ||||||||||||||
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 |
15th | 2 | ||||||||
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 | 17th | 3 | ||
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 |
NC | 0 |
2006 | Alister McRae | Toyota Corolla S2000 | MON | SWE | MEX | ESP | FRA | ARG | ITA | GRE | GER | FIN | JPN | CYP | TUR | AUS | NZL | GBR Ret |
NC | 0 |
2007 | Taylor Motorsport | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | MON | SWE | NOR | MEX | POR | ARG | ITA | GRE | FIN | GER | NZL 21 |
ESP | FRA | JPN | IRE | GBR | NC | 0 |
2012 | Proton Motorsports | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | MON | SWE 37 |
MEX | POR | ARG | GRE | NZL Ret |
FIN | GER | GBR | FRA | ITA | ESP | NC | 0 | |||
PWRC results
Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | PWRC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | R.E.D. World Rally Team | Subaru Impreza WRX STi | SWE 2 |
MEX Ret |
NZL 3 |
ARG | GER 3 |
FRA 3 |
AUS Ret |
5th | 26 |
SWRC results
Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | SWRC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | Proton Motorsports | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | MON | SWE 7 |
POR | NZL Ret |
FIN | GBR | FRA | ESP | 13th | 6 |
APRC results
Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | APRC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1996 | SanYang MIT Motorsport | Honda Civic VTi | THA | IDN | MYS | NZL | AUS Ret |
BEI | - | 0 | |
1997 | S.B.G. Sport | Volkswagen Golf Kit Car | THA | CHI | NZL | MYS | IDN | AUS Ret |
- | 0 | |
1997 | S.B.G. Sport | Volkswagen Golf Kit Car | THA | CHI | NZL | MYS | AUS 10 |
- | 0 | ||
2009 | Proton R3 Malaysia | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | NCL | AUS | NZL | JPN | MYS | IDN Ret |
CHN | - | 0 |
2010 | Proton R3 Malaysia | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | MAL Ret |
JPN Ret |
NZL 2 |
AUS Ret |
NCL | IDN | CHN 1 |
3rd | 78 |
2011 | Proton Motorsport | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | MAL 3 |
AUS 4 |
NCL 3 |
NZL 5 |
JPN 2 |
CHN 1 |
1st | 153 | |
2012 | Proton Motorsport | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | NZL 4 |
NCL Ret |
AUS 2 |
MYS 1 |
JPN Ret |
CHN 1 |
2nd | 120 | |
Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results
(key)
References
- https://www.ewrc-results.com/profile/32499-hugh-shug-steele/
- https://silverstoneauctions.com/events/2017-auctions/race-retro-classic-car-sale-2017/race-retro-classic-car-sale-2017-sale/2pm-friday-competition-cars/1976-ford-escort-mk-ll-colin-mcrae-rally-history
- Mot: Alister McRae to miss Australia Rally - AAP Sports News (Australia)
- Rally Paradise, Alister McRae's Profile
- Alister McRae takes driver's seat in Neo S2000
- http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/article/9692/mcrae-confirms-world-rx-entry
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alister McRae. |
Awards and achievements | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Malcolm Wilson |
Autosport National Rally Driver of the Year 1995 |
Succeeded by Gwyndaf Evans |
Sporting positions | ||
Preceded by Jarmo Kytölehto |
Race of Champions Rally Master 1998 |
Succeeded by Armin Schwarz |
Preceded by Katsuhiko Taguchi |
Asia-Pacific Rally Champion 2011 |
Succeeded by Chris Atkinson |
|}