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 McRae on a stage rally in Scotland. April 1993 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Scottish |
| Born | (1943-10-28)28 October 1943 (age 82) Lanark,Scotland |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 1976–2004 |
| Co-driver |  Ian Muir Mike Nicholson Ian Grindrod Rob ArthurDavid Senior Chris Wood Pauline Gullick |
| Teams | Vauxhall,Opel,Austin Rover |
| Rallies | 25 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Rally wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 2 |
| Stage wins | 15 |
| Total points | 56 |
| First rally | 1976RAC Rally |
| Last rally | 2015Wales Rally GB |
James Steele McRae (born 28 October 1943) is a Scottish formerrally driver. He was highly successful in theBritish Rally Championship, winning the title a record five times in 1981, 1982, 1984, 1987 and 1988 which as of 2023 still stands. In theEuropean Rally Championship for drivers, he was runner-up in 1982, while his highest placing in the World Rally Championship was fifteenth in1983. McRae runs aplumbing business in his home town ofLanark.[1] He and his wife Margaret had three sons,Colin,Alister and Stuart. Both Colin and Alister wereWorld 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.[2]
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.[3][4] 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 theCastrol 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 theRothmans Rally Team, driving anOpel Manta 400. During his time atRothmans, his teammates wereAri Vatanen,Walter Röhrl andHenri Toivonen. He then progressed to theMG Metro 6R4.
Though mostly retired from motorsport now, McRae still occasionally competes on historic rallies and someScottish Rally Championship events, with some occasional outings on theWales Rally GB. In 2006 he won the Roger Albert Clark Rally in aStobart Motorsport sponsoredMark 2 Ford Escort.
In September 2008, McRae was one of a number of ex-world and British champions to take part in theColin McRae Forest Stages Rally in memory of his son, who died in 2007. He drove aPorsche 911 on the rally. The impressive entry list included ex-World Championship driversHannu Mikkola,Ari Vatanen,Björn Waldegård,Stig Blomqvist,Malcolm Wilson,Russell Brookes,Andrew Cowan andLouise 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.
In 1985, Jimmy took part in aFord Escort Celebrity race atBrands Hatch, where the field was a mix of Rally and Rallycross drivers.[5]
In 1990, Jimmy contested four rounds of theBritish Touring Car Championship in an Ecosse MotorsportBMW M3. His best result was 10th (5th in class) on his debut in the 1 Hour Endurance race atDonington Park, sharing with Hugh Chalmers. He wasn't eligible for points however, and his only points finish would be 9th in Class atSilverstone. 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.[6][7]
Also in 1990, Jimmy raced atBirmingham in theTVR Tuscan Challenge. He qualified 2nd, alongside former double British Touring Car ChampionChris Hodgetts and finished 5th on the road. He was later promoted to 4th after Ian Flux was disqualified for performing an illegal practice start.[8]
He also had a couple of outings inCaterham racing.[9]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position in class) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap in class)
| 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 | B | OUL | DON ovr:10‡ cls:5‡ | THR Ret | SIL | OUL | SIL ovr:16 cls:9 | BRH ovr:11‡ cls:8‡ | SNE | BRH | BIR | DON | THR | SIL | 36th | 2 | 25th |
Source:[10] | |||||||||||||||||||
‡ Endurance driver (ineligible for points).