Jimmy McRae
James Steele McRae is a Scottish 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. 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.
Career
McRae began his motorsport career riding in Scottish scrambles and he was second placed in the 1969 Scottish ACU Scrambles Championship, riding an Edgar Bros, Edinburgh AJS Y4 250cc Stormer. 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.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 2024, he won his class driving a Mk1 Escort on the Grampian Forest Rally, celebrating 50 years in the sport.
Other Racing
In 1985, McRae took part in a Ford Escort Celebrity race at Brands Hatch, where the field was a mix of Rally and Rallycross drivers.In 1990, McRae contested four rounds of the British Touring Car Championship in an Ecosse Motorsport BMW M3. His best result was tenth 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 McRae for the 1991 Season but the required funding couldn't be found.
Also in 1990, McRae raced at Birmingham in the TVR Tuscan Challenge. He qualified second, alongside former double British Touring Car Champion Chris Hodgetts and finished fifth on the road. He was later promoted to 4th after Ian Flux was disqualified for performing an illegal practice start.
McRae also had a couple of outings in Caterham racing.