Jimmy McRae

{{Infobox WRC driver

| name = Jimmy McRae

| image= jmcrae.jpg

| caption = McRae on a stage rally in Scotland. April 1993

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1943|10|28}}

| birth_place = Lanark, Scotland

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

| Years = 1976–2004

| Co-driver = {{flagicon|UK}} Ian Muir
{{flagicon|UK}} Mike Nicholson
{{flagicon|UK}} Ian Grindrod
{{flagicon|UK}} Rob Arthur
{{flagicon|UK}} David Senior
{{flagicon|UK}} Chris Wood
{{flagicon|UK}} Pauline Gullick

| Teams = Vauxhall, Opel, Austin Rover

| Races = 25

| Championships = 0

| Wins = 0

| Podiums = 2

| Stagewins = 15

| Points = 56

| First race = 1976 RAC Rally

| Last race = 2015 Wales Rally GB

}}

James Steele McRae (born 28 October 1943) is a British former rally driver. He was highly successful in the British Rally Championship, winning the title a record five times in 1981, 1982, 1984, 1987 and 1988 which as of 2023 still stands. In the European Rally Championship for drivers, he was runner-up in 1982, while his highest placing in the World Rally Championship was fifteenth in 1983. McRae runs a plumbing business in his home town of Lanark.{{Cite web |url=http://www.stobartmotorsport.com/profile_jimmy.asp |title=:: Stobart Motorsport :: |access-date=1 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227065341/http://stobartmotorsport.com/profile_jimmy.asp |archive-date=27 February 2009 |url-status=dead }} He and his wife Margaret had three sons, Colin, Alister and Stuart. Both Colin and Alister were World Rally Championship drivers, with Colin winning the world championship in 1995. McRae's brother-in-law Hugh "Shug" Steele is also a former rally driver.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ewrc-results.com/profile/32499-hugh-shug-steele/|title=Hugh 'Shug' Steele – rally profile|website=eWRC-results.com|access-date=27 October 2021}}

Career

Jimmy began his motorsport career riding in Scottish scrambles (motocross) and he was second placed in the 1969 Scottish ACU Scrambles Championship, riding an Edgar Bros, Edinburgh AJS Y4 250cc Stormer.{{Cite web|url=https://rallysportmag.com/interview-jimmy-mcrae-rally-legend-and-famous-father-part-1/|title=Interview: Jimmy McRae, rally legend and famous father – Part 1|website=Rallysportmag.com|date=7 August 2019|access-date=27 October 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/february-2018/74/lunch-jimmy-mcrae|title=Lunch with... Jimmy McRae|website=Motorsportmagazine.com|date=24 July 2018 |access-date=27 October 2021}} He started his rallying at the age of 31 driving his own Mk1 Cortina fitted with Lotus running gear followed by an Escort Mk1 twin cam. The following year he approached SMT and drove a Group 1 Vauxhall Magnum for them culminating in a works drive the following year in a DTV Gp 1 Magnum. In 1978 he was promoted to the full DTV team and drove a Group 4 Vauxhall Chevette HS then HSR in the British Rally Championship alongside a single cam Chevette in the Castrol Autosport Series, narrowly missing out on the title to Malcolm Wilson.

File:Jimmy McRae - 2008 Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally.jpg

Throughout his career, McRae drove for a number of different teams, including Vauxhall, Opel & Ford reaching a pinnacle during his spell in the Rothmans Rally Team, driving an Opel Manta 400. During his time at Rothmans, his teammates were Ari Vatanen, Walter Röhrl and Henri Toivonen. He then progressed to the MG Metro 6R4.

Though mostly retired from motorsport now, McRae still occasionally competes on historic rallies and some Scottish Rally Championship events, with some occasional outings on the Wales Rally GB. In 2006 he won the Roger Albert Clark Rally in a Stobart Motorsport sponsored Mark 2 Ford Escort.

In September 2008, McRae was one of a number of ex-world and British champions to take part in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally in memory of his son, who died in 2007. He drove a Porsche 911 on the rally. The impressive entry list included ex-World Championship drivers Hannu Mikkola, Ari Vatanen, Björn Waldegård, Stig Blomqvist, Malcolm Wilson, Russell Brookes, Andrew Cowan and Louise Aitken-Walker.

McRae took part in the 2014 British Historic Championship in a Firenza Can Am finishing fourth. He also took part in the 2014 Wales Rally GB for the first time in ten years.

In early August 24 he won his class driving a Mk1 Escort on the Grampian Forest Rally, celebrating 50 years in the sport.

=Other Racing=

In 1985, Jimmy took part in a Ford Escort Celebrity race at Brands Hatch, where the field was a mix of Rally and Rallycross drivers.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=84OAk4joIcs&pp=ygUdSmltbXkgbWNyYWUgYnJhbmRzIGhhdGNoIDE5ODU%3D

In 1990, Jimmy contested four rounds of the British Touring Car Championship in an Ecosse Motorsport BMW M3. His best result was 10th (5th in class) on his debut in the 1 Hour Endurance race at Donington Park, sharing with Hugh Chalmers. He wasn't eligible for points however, and his only points finish would be 9th in Class at Silverstone. Nevertheless, the BMW works team were impressed enough to be rumoured to be looking to hire Jimmy for the 1991 Season but the required funding couldn't be found.https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/march-1991/25/british-touring-car-championship-3/https://1990sbtcc.com/2019/08/06/btcc-super-tourings-paddock-whispers/

Also in 1990, Jimmy raced at Birmingham in the TVR Tuscan Challenge. He qualified 2nd, alongside former double British Touring Car Champion Chris Hodgetts and finished 5th on the road. He was later promoted to 4th after Ian Flux was disqualified for performing an illegal practice start.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DX0m-NnLQDg&pp=ygUVVHZyIHR1c2NhbiBCaXJtaW5naGFt

He also had a couple of outings in Caterham racing.https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/february-2018/74/lunch-jimmy-mcrae/

Racing record

=Complete WRC results=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%;"
Year ! Entrant ! Car ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! 7 ! 8 ! 9 ! 10 ! 11 ! 12 ! 13 ! 14 ! 15 ! 16 ! {{Tooltip\|WDC\|Championship position}} ! Pts
1976 ! SMT Rallying with DTV / Castrol ! Vauxhall Magnum Coupé \| MON \| SWE \| POR \| KEN \| GRE \| MOR \| FIN \| ITA \| FRA \| style="background:#CFCFFF;"\| GBR 12 \| \| \| \| \| \| ! N/A ! N/A
1977 ! SMT Rallying with DTV / Castrol ! Vauxhall Magnum Coupé \| MON \| SWE \| POR \| KEN \| NZL \| GRE \| FIN \| CAN \| ITA \| FRA \|style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| GBR Ret \| \| \| \| \| ! N/A ! N/A
1978 ! Dealer Team Vauxhall ! Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS \| MON \| SWE \| KEN \| POR \| GRE \| FIN \| CAN \| ITA \| CIV \| FRA \| style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| GBR Ret \| \| \| \| \| ! NC ! 0
1979 ! Dealer Team Vauxhall ! Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS \| MON \| SWE \| POR \| KEN \| GRE \| NZL \| FIN \| CAN \| ITA \| FRA \| style="background:#CFCFFF;"\| GBR 12 \| CIV \| \| \| \| ! NC ! 0
1980 ! Dealer Team Vauxhall ! Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HSR \| MON \| SWE \| POR \| KEN \| GRC \| ARG \| FIN \| NZL \| ITA \| FRA \|style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| GBR Ret \| CIV \| \| \| \| ! NC ! 0
1981 ! Dealer Team Opel ! Opel Ascona 400 \| MON \| SWE \| POR \| KEN \| FRA \| GRE \| ARG \| BRA \| FIN \| ITA \| CIV \| style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| GBR Ret \| \| \| \| ! NC ! 0
\| 1982 ! Rothmans Opel Rally Team ! Opel Ascona 400 \| MON \| SWE \| POR \| KEN \| FRA \| style="background:#DFFFDF;"\| GRE 6 \| NZL \| BRA \| FIN \| ITA \| CIV \| style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| GBR Ret \| \| \| \| ! 33rd ! 6
\| 1983 ! Rothmans Opel Rally Team ! Opel Manta 400 \| MON \| SWE \| POR \| KEN \| FRA \| style="background:#DFFFDF;"\| GRE 6 \| NZL \| ARG \| FIN \| ITA \| CIV \| style="background:#FFDF9F;"\| GBR 3 \| \| \| \| ! 15th ! 15
1984 ! Opel Euro Team ! Opel Manta 400 \| MON \| SWE \| POR \| KEN \| FRA \| GRE \| NZL \| ARG \| FIN \| ITA \| CIV \| style="background:#DFFFDF;"\| GBR 7 \| \| \| \| ! 36th ! 4
1985 ! Opel Euro Team ! Opel Manta 400 \| MON \| SWE \| POR \| KEN \| FRA \| GRE \| NZL \| ARG \| FIN \| ITA \| CIV \| style="background:#DFFFDF;"\| GBR 6 \| \| \| \| ! 34th ! 6
1986 ! Austin Rover World Rally Team ! MG Metro 6R4 \| MON \| SWE \| POR \| KEN \| FRA \| GRE \| NZL \| ARG \| FIN \| CIV \| ITA \| style="background:#DFFFDF;"\| GBR 8 \| USA \| \| \| ! 49th ! 3
1987 ! Ford Motor Company Ltd ! Ford Sierra RS Cosworth \| MON \| SWE \| POR \| KEN \| FRA \| GRE \| USA \| NZL \| ARG \| FIN \| CIV \| style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| ITA Ret \| style="background:#FFDF9F;"\| GBR 3 \| \| \| ! 23rd ! 12
rowspan=2\| 1988 ! Gary Smith Motorsport ! Ford Sierra XR4x4 \| MON \| SWE \| POR \| KEN \| FRA \| GRE \| USA \| style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| NZL Ret \| ARG \| FIN \| CIV \| ITA \| \| \| \| ! rowspan=2\| NC ! rowspan=2\| 0
Toyota Team Europe ! Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| GBR Ret \| \| \|
rowspan=3\| 1989 ! Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe ! Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 \| SWE \| MON \| POR \| KEN \| FRA \| style="background:#DFFFDF;"\| GRE 4 \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| ! rowspan=3\| 29th ! rowspan=3\| 10
Gary Smith Motorsport ! rowspan=2\| Ford Sierra RS Cosworth \| \| \| \| \| \| \| style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| NZL Ret \| ARG \| FIN \| AUS \| ITA \| CIV \| \| \| \|
Ford Motor Company Ltd \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| style="background:#CFCFFF;"\| GBR 12 \| \| \|
1990 ! Shell Oil UK ! Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4X4 \| MON \| POR \| KEN \| FRA \| GRC \| NZL \| ARG \| FIN \| AUS \| ITA \| CIV \| style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| GBR Ret \| \| \| \| ! NC ! 0
1993 ! Shell Helix Motor Oils ! Volkswagen Golf GTI \| MON \| SWE \| POR \| KEN \| FRA \| GRC \| ARG \| NZL \| FIN \| AUS \| ITA \| ESP \| style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| GBR Ret \| \| \| ! NC ! 0
{{WRC\|1997}} ! Hyundai Motorsport ! Hyundai Accent X3 \| MON \| SWE \| KEN \| POR \| ESP \| FRA \| ARG \| GRC \| NZL \| FIN \| IDN \| ITA \| AUS \|style="background:#CFCFFF;"\| GBR 32 \| \| ! NC ! 0
2003 ! Jimmy McRae ! Subaru Impreza 555 \| MON \| SWE \| TUR \| NZL \| ARG \| GRC \| CYP \| GER \| FIN \| AUS \| ITA \| FRA \| ESP \|style="background:#CFCFFF;"\| GBR 17 \| \| ! NC ! 0
{{WRC\|2004}} ! Jimmy McRae ! Subaru Impreza 555 \| MON \| SWE \| MEX \| NZL \| CYP \| GRC \| TUR \| ARG \| FIN \| GER \| JPN \| style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| GBR Ret \| ITA \| FRA \| ESP \| AUS ! NC ! 0

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%;"

Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! {{Tooltip|WDC|Championship position}}

! Pts

1976

! SMT Rallying with DTV / Castrol

! Vauxhall Magnum Coupé

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| GRE

| MOR

| FIN

| ITA

| FRA

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

! N/A

1977

! SMT Rallying with DTV / Castrol

! Vauxhall Magnum Coupé

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| NZL

| GRE

| FIN

| CAN

| ITA

| FRA

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

! N/A

1978

! Dealer Team Vauxhall

! Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS

| MON

| SWE

| KEN

| POR

| GRE

| FIN

| CAN

| ITA

| CIV

| FRA

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

! NC

! 0

1979

! Dealer Team Vauxhall

! Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| GRE

| NZL

| FIN

| CAN

| ITA

| FRA

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

| CIV

! NC

! 0

1980

! Dealer Team Vauxhall

! Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HSR

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| GRC

| ARG

| FIN

| NZL

| ITA

| FRA

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

| CIV

! NC

! 0

1981

! Dealer Team Opel

! Opel Ascona 400

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

| GRE

| ARG

| BRA

| FIN

| ITA

| CIV

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

! NC

! 0

| 1982

! Rothmans Opel Rally Team

! Opel Ascona 400

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

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

| NZL

| BRA

| FIN

| ITA

| CIV

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

! 33rd

! 6

| 1983

! Rothmans Opel Rally Team

! Opel Manta 400

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

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

| NZL

| ARG

| FIN

| ITA

| CIV

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

! 15th

! 15

1984

! Opel Euro Team

! Opel Manta 400

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

| GRE

| NZL

| ARG

| FIN

| ITA

| CIV

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

! 36th

! 4

1985

! Opel Euro Team

! Opel Manta 400

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

| GRE

| NZL

| ARG

| FIN

| ITA

| CIV

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

! 34th

! 6

1986

! Austin Rover World Rally Team

! MG Metro 6R4

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

| GRE

| NZL

| ARG

| FIN

| CIV

| ITA

| style="background:#DFFFDF;"| GBR
8

| USA

! 49th

! 3

1987

! Ford Motor Company Ltd

! Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

| GRE

| USA

| NZL

| ARG

| FIN

| CIV

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

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

! 23rd

! 12

rowspan=2| 1988

! Gary Smith Motorsport

! Ford Sierra XR4x4

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

| GRE

| USA

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

| ARG

| FIN

| CIV

| ITA

! rowspan=2| NC

! rowspan=2| 0

Toyota Team Europe

! Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165

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

rowspan=3| 1989

! Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe

! Mitsubishi Galant VR-4

| SWE

| MON

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

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

! rowspan=3| 29th

! rowspan=3| 10

Gary Smith Motorsport

! rowspan=2| Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

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

| ARG

| FIN

| AUS

| ITA

| CIV

Ford Motor Company Ltd

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

1990

! Shell Oil UK

! Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4X4

| MON

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

| GRC

| NZL

| ARG

| FIN

| AUS

| ITA

| CIV

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

! NC

! 0

1993

! Shell Helix Motor Oils

! Volkswagen Golf GTI

| MON

| SWE

| POR

| KEN

| FRA

| GRC

| ARG

| NZL

| FIN

| AUS

| ITA

| ESP

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

! NC

! 0

! Hyundai Motorsport

! Hyundai Accent X3

| MON

| SWE

| KEN

| POR

| ESP

| FRA

| ARG

| GRC

| NZL

| FIN

| IDN

| ITA

| AUS

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| GBR
32

! NC

! 0

2003

! Jimmy McRae

! Subaru Impreza 555

| MON

| SWE

| TUR

| NZL

| ARG

| GRC

| CYP

| GER

| FIN

| AUS

| ITA

| FRA

| ESP

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

! NC

! 0

! Jimmy McRae

! Subaru Impreza 555

| MON

| SWE

| MEX

| NZL

| CYP

| GRC

| TUR

| ARG

| FIN

| GER

| JPN

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

| ITA

| FRA

| ESP

| AUS

! NC

! 0

=Complete British Touring Car Championship results=

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap in class)

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
Year ! Team ! Car ! Class ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! 7 ! 8 ! 9 ! 10 ! 11 ! 12 ! 13 ! DC ! Pts ! Class
1990 !\| Ecosse Motorsport !\| BMW M3 !\| {{Tooltip\|B\|Class B}} \| OUL \|style="background:#DFFFDF;"\| DON ovr:10‡ cls:5‡ \|style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| THR Ret \| SIL \| OUL \|style="background:#DFFFDF;"\| SIL ovr:16 cls:9 \|style="background:#DFFFDF;"\| BRH ovr:11‡ cls:8‡ \| SNE \| BRH \| BIR \| DON \| THR \| SIL ! 36th ! 2 ! 25th
colspan="20"\|{{center\|{{small\|Source:{{cite web \|last1=de Jong \|first1=Frank \|title=British Saloon Car Championship \|url=http://www.touringcarracing.net/Pages/BSCC.html \|website=History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993 \|access-date=28 January 2023}}}}}}

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

Year

! Team

! Car

! Class

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! DC

! Pts

! Class

1990

!| Ecosse Motorsport

!| BMW M3

!| {{Tooltip|B|Class B}}

| OUL

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| DON
ovr:10‡
cls:5‡

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

| SIL

| OUL

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SIL
ovr:16
cls:9

|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| BRH
ovr:11‡
cls:8‡

| SNE

| BRH

| BIR

| DON

| THR

| SIL

! 36th

! 2

! 25th

colspan="20"|{{center|{{small|Source:{{cite web |last1=de Jong |first1=Frank |title=British Saloon Car Championship |url=http://www.touringcarracing.net/Pages/BSCC.html |website=History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993 |access-date=28 January 2023}}}}}}

‡ Endurance driver (ineligible for points).

References

External links

[http://www.rallybase.nl/index.php?type=profile&driverid=2890 Rallybase Data page]

Category:1943 births

Category:Living people

Category:Scottish rally drivers

Category:Scottish Rally Championship

Category:World Rally Championship drivers

Category:British Touring Car Championship drivers

Category:Sportspeople from Lanark

Category:Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers