McRae counts down to Perthshire rally

Oct 4 2011 by Greg Christison, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

SCOTTISH motorsport star Alister McRae is eagerly anticipating this weekend’s high-octane Rally of Scotland.

But the son of five-time British Rally champion Jimmy McRae and brother of the late 1995 World Rally champion, Colin McRae, admitted this year’s competition, which is hosted jointly by Perthshire and Stirlingshire, will be “really tough”.

Speaking to the PA yesterday, the 40-year-old, who now lives in Australia, said: “It’s always nice to come home to compete again.

“Obviously, I have good memories of rallying in this part of the world and it’ll be great to see the saltires out there flying high. We had a good finish here a couple of years ago.”

He continued: “The competition is going to be really tough.

“There’s a good, quality entry. It's definitely going to be one of the most keenly fought rallies of the year.”

While McRae has not competed in the International Rally Challenge (IRC) this year, he will arrive back on familiar home territory match-fit, fresh from tackling this weekend’s penultimate Asia Pacific Rally Championship round in Japan.

Keen to capitalise on his home advantage, the Lanark-born driver, who powered his way to second place in the 2009 event to give Proton their best IRC finish to date, admitted he relishes returning to race on Scottish soil.

“The new Carron Valley stage on the Friday night is going to be a big challenge to everybody, especially with it running in the dark,” he went on.

“In October, it’s just possible there could be a wee bit of rain or mist around, just to really spice things up a bit.

“After that, it’s onto the familiar stages on Saturday and Sunday – and these really are some of the best roads in the world.

“I know I’m a Scotsman, so I’m possibly a wee bit biased, but Scotland’s a fantastic country and the Rally of Scotland is a great rally to come and watch.”

This year’s rally, which begins with a ceremonial start at Stirling Castle on Friday, will see a host of big names in international motorsport take to Perthshire forest tracks.

Amongst the entrants are the top three in the IRC standings, Jan Kopecky, Freddy Loix and Thierry Neuville, who will all be keen to take maximum points from the penultimate race in the calendar.

McRae’s fellow Scot, David Bogie, who has already secured this year’s British and Scottish Rally Championship titles, will also appear.

Two competitive timed stages will be held in the dark of Carron Valley on the Stirlingshire-North Lanarkshire border on Friday night.

Saturday sees Perthshire stages, Craigvinean, Drummond Hill and Errochty all run twice before drivers return to Stirlingshire on Sunday morning.

The high-adrenaline competition concludes with a final two stages in Perthshire and subsequent ceremonial finish in the majestic grounds of Scone Palace.

Admission is £20 per public vehicle per stage, with the exception of Sunday morning’s Carron Valley stage which is £10 per vehicle.

For more information, look up www.rallyofscotland.com.