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Alister McRae

{{short description|British rally driver (born 1970)}}

{{For|the Australian Christian church leader of the Uniting Church in Australia|Alistair Macrae}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}

{{BLP sources|date=January 2008}}

{{Infobox WRC driver

| name = Alister McRae

| image= Alister mcrae.jpg

| caption = Alister McRae at the service area during the 2010 Rally Scotland

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1970|12|20|df=y}}

| birth_place = Lanark, Lanarkshire, Scotland

| nationality = {{flagicon|SCO}} Scottish
{{flagicon|GBR}} British

| Years = 1991–2004, 2006–2007, 2012

| Co-driver = {{Flagicon|GBR}} David Senior
{{Flagicon|GBR}} Chris Wood
{{Flagicon|GBR}} Chris Patterson
{{Flagicon|GBR}} Gordon Noble
{{Flagicon|NZL}} Erin Kyle
{{Flagicon|AUS}} William Hayes

| Teams = Subaru, Hyundai World Rally Team, Mitsubishi

| Races = 78

| Championships = 0

| Wins in WRC group N = 2

| Wins in WRC formula2 = 7

| Podiums in WRC formula2 = 10

| Stagewins = 5

| Points = 19

| First race = 1991 RAC Rally

| Last race = 2012 Rally New Zealand

}}

Alister Ritchie McRae{{cite web |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/U7aKUbp37Ia0_VThyD9EHhVRQn4/appointments |title=Alister Ritchie MCRAE |author= |website=Companies House |access-date=6 March 2025}} (born 20 December 1970) is a British rally driver from Scotland 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, and older brother of property entrepreneur Stuart McRae. His uncle Hugh "Shug" Steele is also a former rally driver.{{Cite web|last=Shacki|title=Hugh 'Shug' Steele – rally profile eWRC-results.com|url=https://www.ewrc-results.com/profile/32499-hugh-shug-steele/|access-date=2021-07-20|website=eWRC-results.com|language=en}}

Career

Born in Lanark, McRae took his first foray into motorsport at the age of twelve, when he took up motorcycle trials and motocross. 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 McRae 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.

File:Am2 hyundai.jpg]]

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).

File:Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 Rally Car 2010.jpg]]

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.{{cite web |url=http://gamma.nic.fi/~globe/rally/paradise/stat/prof_mcrae_alister.htm |title=Rally Paradise, Alister McRae´s Profile |website=gamma.nic.fi |access-date=22 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060529033614/http://gamma.nic.fi/~globe/rally/paradise/stat/prof_mcrae_alister.htm |archive-date=29 May 2006 |url-status=dead}} 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.

File:Alister McRae - 2007 Race of Champions.jpg]]

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.

In 2006, McRae successfully competed 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.{{Cite web|url=https://paultan.org/2009/09/21/alister-mcrae-takes-drivers-seat-in-neo-s2000/|title=Alister McRae takes driver's seat in Neo S2000 |website=Paultan.org|date=21 September 2009|access-date=28 October 2021}}

He made his FIA World Rallycross Championship debut in the 9th round of the 2017 season in France.{{Cite web |url=http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/article/9692/mcrae-confirms-world-rx-entry |title=FIA World Rallycross Championship |access-date=23 August 2017 |archive-date=24 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824053116/http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/article/9692/mcrae-confirms-world-rx-entry |url-status=dead }}

Personal life

McRae is the father of Max McRae who is also a motorsport racer.{{cite news |title=McRae junior targets rally debut |url=https://www.wrc.com/en/news/news-archive/wrc/mcrae-junior-targets-rally-debut/ |access-date=12 September 2021 |work=WRC – World Rally Championship |date=28 December 2019 |language=en}}

Racing record

=Complete WRC results=

class="wikitable" border="1" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%;"
Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! {{Tooltip|WDC|Championship position}}

! Pts

1991

! nowrap| Alister McRae

! nowrap| Subaru Legacy RS

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

| GRC

| NZL

| ARG

| FIN

| AUS

| ITA

| CIV

| ESP

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GBR
Ret

|colspan=2|

! NC

! 0

1992

! nowrap| Alister McRae

! nowrap| Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

| GRE

| NZL

| ARG

| FIN

| AUS

| ITA

| CIV

| ESP

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GBR
14

|colspan=2|

! NC

! 0

rowspan=2| 1993

! nowrap| Alister McRae

! nowrap| Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

| MON

| SWE
EX

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

| GRE

| ARG

| NZL

| FIN

| AUS

| ITA

| ESP

|colspan=4|

!rowspan=2| NC

!rowspan=2| 0

nowrap| 555 Subaru World Rally Team

! nowrap| Subaru Legacy RS

|colspan=12|

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GBR
10

|colspan=3|

1994

! nowrap| Nissan F2

! nowrap| Nissan Sunny GTi

| MON

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

| GRE

| ARG

| NZL

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FIN
15

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ITA
12

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GBR
Ret

|colspan=6|

! NC

! 0

1995

! nowrap| Alister McRae

! nowrap| Ford Escort RS Cosworth

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| FRA

| NZL

| AUS

| ESP

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| GBR
4

|colspan=8|

! 10th

! 10

1996

! nowrap| SanYang MIT Motorsport

! nowrap| Honda Civic VTi

| SWE

| KEN

| IDN

| GRE

| ARG

| FIN

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUS
Ret

| ITA

| ESP

|colspan=7|

! NC

! 0

1997

! nowrap| S.B.G. Sport

! nowrap| Volkswagen Golf Kit Car

| MON

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SWE
21

| KEN

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| POR
9

| ESP

| FRA

| ARG

| GRE

| NZL

| FIN

| IDN

| ITA

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUS
Ret

| GBR
EX

|colspan=2|

! NC

! 0

rowspan=3| 1998

! nowrap| S.B.G. Sport

! nowrap| Volkswagen Golf Kit Car

| MON

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SWE
Ret

| KEN

| POR

|colspan=2|

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ARG
Ret

| GRE

| NZL

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FIN
13

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ITA
22

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| AUS
17

|colspan=4|

!rowspan=3| NC

!rowspan=3| 0

nowrap| Hyundai Motor Sport

! nowrap| Hyundai Coupé Kit Car

|colspan=4|

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ESP
19

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FRA
15

|colspan=10|

nowrap| 555 Subaru World Rally Team

! nowrap| Subaru Impreza WRC 98

|colspan=12|

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GBR
Ret

|colspan=3|

1999

! nowrap| Hyundai Motor Sport

! nowrap| Hyundai Coupé Kit Car Evo 2

| MON

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SWE
Ret

| KEN

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| POR
13

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ESP
Ret

| FRA

| ARG

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GRE
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| NZL
20

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FIN
20

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| CHN
10

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ITA
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| AUS
14

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GBR
Ret

|colspan=2|

! NC

! 0

2000

! nowrap| Hyundai Castrol World Rally Team

! nowrap| Hyundai Accent WRC

| MON

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SWE
14

| KEN

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| POR
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ESP
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ARG
7

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GRE
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NZL
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FIN
9

| CYP

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FRA
12

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ITA
16

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUS
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GBR
11

|colspan=2|

! NC

! 0

rowspan=2| 2001

!rowspan=2 nowrap| Hyundai Castrol World Rally Team

! nowrap| Hyundai Accent WRC

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MON
7

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| SWE
Ret

|colspan=14|

!rowspan=2| 17th

!rowspan=2| 4

nowrap| Hyundai Accent WRC2

|colspan=2|

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| POR
6

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ESP
11

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ARG
9

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| CYP
7

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GRE
15

| KEN

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FIN
13

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| NZL
9

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ITA
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FRA
9

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| AUS
10

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| GBR
4

|colspan=2|

rowspan=2| 2002

!rowspan=2 nowrap| Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart

! nowrap| Mitsubishi Lancer WRC

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MON
14

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SWE
5

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FRA
10

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ESP
13

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| CYP
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ARG
8

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GRE
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| KEN
9

|colspan=8|

!rowspan=2| 15th

!rowspan=2| 2

nowrap| Mitsubishi Lancer WRC2

|colspan=8|

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| FIN
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GER
Ret

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| ITA
Ret

| NZL

| AUS

| GBR

|colspan=2|

2003

! nowrap| Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe

! nowrap| Mitsubishi Lancer WRC2

| MON

| SWE

| TUR

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| NZL
6

| ARG

| GRE

| CYP

| GER

| FIN

| AUS

| ITA

| FRA

| ESP

| GBR

|colspan=2|

! 17th

! 3

2004

! nowrap| R.E.D. World Rally Team

! nowrap| Subaru Impreza WRX STi

| MON

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SWE
17

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MEX
Ret

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| NZL
13

| CYP

| GRE

| TUR

| ARG

| FIN

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GER
17

| JPN

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GBR
14

| ITA

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FRA
15

| ESP

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUS
Ret

! NC

! 0

2006

! nowrap| Alister McRae

! nowrap| Toyota Corolla S2000

| MON

| SWE

| MEX

| ESP

| FRA

| ARG

| ITA

| GRE

| GER

| FIN

| JPN

| CYP

| TUR

| AUS

| NZL

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| GBR
Ret

! NC

! 0

2007

! nowrap| Taylor Motorsport

! nowrap| Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX

| MON

| SWE

| NOR

| MEX

| POR

| ARG

| ITA

| GRE

| FIN

| GER

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| NZL
21

| ESP

| FRA

| JPN

| IRE

| GBR

! NC

! 0

2012

! nowrap| Proton Motorsports

! nowrap| Proton Satria Neo S2000

| MON

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| SWE
37

| MEX

| POR

| ARG

| GRE

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NZL
Ret

| FIN

| GER

| GBR

| FRA

| ITA

| ESP

|colspan=3|

! NC

! 0

=PWRC results=

class="wikitable" border="1" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%;"
Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! PWRC

! Points

2004

! nowrap| R.E.D. World Rally Team

! nowrap| Subaru Impreza WRX STi

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| SWE
2

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MEX
Ret

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| NZL
3

| ARG

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| GER
3

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| FRA
3

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUS
Ret

! 5th

! 26

=SWRC results=

class="wikitable" border="1" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%;"
Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! SWRC

! Points

2012

! nowrap| Proton Motorsports

! nowrap| Proton Satria Neo S2000

| MON

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SWE
7

| POR

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NZL
Ret

| FIN

| GBR

| FRA

| ESP

! 13th

! 6

=APRC results=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"

! Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! APRC

! Points

1996

! nowrap| SanYang MIT Motorsport

! nowrap| Honda Civic VTi

| THA

| IDN

| MYS

| NZL

| style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUS
Ret

| BEI

|

! -

! 0

1997

! nowrap| S.B.G. Sport

! nowrap| Volkswagen Golf Kit Car

| THA

| CHI

| NZL

| MYS

| IDN

| style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUS
Ret

|

! -

! 0

1997

! nowrap| S.B.G. Sport

! nowrap| Volkswagen Golf Kit Car

| THA

| CHI

| NZL

| MYS

| style="background:#CFCFFF;"| AUS
10

|colspan=2|

! -

! 0

2009

! nowrap| Proton R3 Malaysia

! nowrap| Proton Satria Neo S2000

| NCL

| AUS

| NZL

| JPN

| MYS

| style="background:#EFCFFF;"| IDN
Ret

| CHN

| -

| 0

2010

! nowrap| Proton R3 Malaysia

! nowrap| Proton Satria Neo S2000

| style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MAL
Ret

| style="background:#EFCFFF;"| JPN
Ret

| style="background:#DFDFDF;"| NZL
2

| style="background:#EFCFFF;"| AUS
Ret

| NCL

| IDN

| style="background:#FFFFBF;"| CHN
1

| style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd

| style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 78

2011

! nowrap| Proton Motorsport

! nowrap| Proton Satria Neo S2000

| style="background:#FFDF9F;"| MAL
3

| style="background:#DFFFDF;"| AUS
4

| style="background:#FFDF9F;"| NCL
3

| style="background:#DFFFDF;"| NZL
5

| style="background:#DFDFDF;"| JPN
2

| style="background:#FFFFBF;"| CHN
1

|

| style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 1st

| style="background:#FFFFBF;"| 153

2012

! nowrap| Proton Motorsport

! nowrap| Proton Satria Neo S2000

| style="background:#DFFFDF;"| NZL
4

| style="background:#EFCFFF;"| NCL
Ret

| style="background:#DFDFDF;"| AUS
2

| style="background:#FFFFBF;"| MYS
1

| style="background:#EFCFFF;"| JPN
Ret

| style="background:#FFFFBF;"| CHN
1

|

| style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2nd

| style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 120

=Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results=

(key)

==Supercar==

class="wikitable" border="1" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%;"
valign="top"

! Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! WRX

! Points

2017

! nowrap| Loco World RX Team

! nowrap| Volkswagen Polo

| BAR

| POR

| HOC

| BEL

| GBR

| NOR

| SWE

| CAN

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| FRA
24

| LAT

| GER

| RSA

! 41st

! 0

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Alister McRae}}

  • [https://www.alistermcrae.com/ Alister McRae.com Official Website]
  • [http://www.rallybase.nl/index.php?type=profile&driverid=46 Rallybase stats page]
  • [https://www.juwra.com/mcrae_alister.html WRC Archive stats page]

{{S-start}}

{{S-ach}}

{{Succession box| before = Malcolm Wilson | title = Autosport
National Rally Driver of the Year | after = Gwyndaf Evans | years = 1995}}

{{S-sports}}

{{Succession box| title = Race of Champions
Rally Master | years= 1998 | before = Jarmo Kytölehto | after = Armin Schwarz}}

{{succession box | before = Katsuhiko Taguchi | title = Asia-Pacific Rally Champion | years = 2011 | after = Chris Atkinson}}

{{s-end}}

{{S-end}}

{{Autosport National Driver of the Year}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McRae, Alister}}

Category:1970 births

Category:Living people

Category:Scottish Rally Championship

Category:Scottish rally drivers

Category:World Rally Championship drivers

Category:Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers

Category:Sportspeople from Lanark

Category:Hyundai Motorsport drivers