Hugh joins Colin McRae for an unforgettable ride at rally Finland in 1997

Earlier in the month I was in Scotland, firstly to attend the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire tourism awards, where I was the guest of the city of Aberdeen and had the opportunity to meet with a wide range of key people from the city and the Shire. Their enthusiasm for our proposed bid for the World Rally Championship( WRC) was most evident. Aberdeen is an energetic community with a strong heritage and a pride to welcome the world to Scotland, which a world championship event such as the WRC will deliver. The proposal is working its way through government channels, and I am hopeful we will have a decision before too long. As I travel around the country talking to marshals the one question that I am always asked is when we will have the WRC back in the UK. It is such an important focal point for the rally community and has helped us develop one of the world’ s best organising teams with decades of experience.

From Aberdeen I drove to Knockhill to join the celebrations at the McRae Rally Challenge being held over two days at the race circuit. On arrival I was informed the car parks were full, which is always a good sign, and was greeted by a paddock full of enthusiasts who had gathered to see a stellar line up of McRae family cars, many being driven by Scottish motorsport royalty. A gala dinner was held in the evening with many memories being shared of Colin McRae and Derek Ringer’ s World Championship title year in 1995, this being the 30th anniversary. One of the amusing moments was during the charity auction, when Petter Solberg offered a set

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of his overalls for the fund raiser – spotting the opportunity, Alison McRae nipped off to the bathroom and re-emerged clad in his race suit and bidding concluded with her sat on Petter’ s lap to raucous applause!

I am sure many of you have your favourite Colin memories and stories, including the triple podium at Chester racecourse at the end of the’ 95 RAC rally. But topping that for me would be a memorable morning in 1997 in Finland. Colin had started the day on fine form leading the rally until his engine expired. This was of course a blow for his championship aspirations, but also for me in my role as Commercial Director of the Subaru World Rally team, as I had a large contingent of our sponsor guests for the three days of the rally. Luckily the technicians of the SWRT( no doubt led by Alan McGuinness) worked their magic overnight with Nigel Riddle organising the use of a private stage the next morning. With Colin looking a little bleary eyed, he agreed to take our guests for trips they would never forget. At the end of the morning Colin waved across to me and said,‘ jump in I’ ll give you a run’, for which I didn’ t need to be asked twice. I think the car was airborne more than on the ground and I will never forget his extraordinary ability to set the car up before the jump so it would land at the apex of the following corner.

October sees the culmination of most of the major circuit racing championships, with British GT, GB3, GB4 and BTCC all coming to a conclusion. Tom Ingram captured his second British Touring Car Championship crown with victory in

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