Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally 5th October Aberfeldy

[FordMan1]

That time of year is here once again when our event returns to the forests of Perthshire.

I have pasted our most recent press release below which I am sure some will find interesting!

I will endeavour to update this regularly over the next month, alternatively we are on Twitter and Facebook which are regularly updated. A link to our website where spectator maps and other info will be uploaded, is also shown below.

https://twitter.com/ColtnessCarClub

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Coltness-Car-Club/

http://www.coltnesscarclub.com/



Sir Chris Hoy for Aberfeldy ....

Britain and Scotland’s most successful Olympian, Sir Chris Hoy is coming to Aberfeldy next month to participate in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, the penultimate round of the ARR Craib Scottish Rally Championship, on Saturday 5th October.

Sir Chris will swap pedal power for horsepower when he climbs aboard the rally Course Car alongside five times British Rally Champion, Jim McRae.

A known petroholic, Sir Chris Hoy hosted the recent BBC Television tribute to the late Colin McRae which was part of the company’s ‘Racing Legends’ series.

A long time fan of motor sport, and rallying in particular, Sir Chris was also a great fan of Britain’s first outright World Rally Champion in 1995, Colin McRae.
Each year, the Lanarkshire based Coltness Car Club host a round of the national Scottish Rally Championship in their former club member’s name, the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally.

In the past, Sir Chris’ sporting cycling commitments have precluded any involvement in motor sport but since retiring from the sport he has been able to devote more time to other passions.

Since his ‘retirement’ Sir Chris has participated in both saloon car and sports car racing events at circuits including Brands Hatch and Oulton Park. When approached by the BBC with regard to the ‘Racing Legends’ series he achieved a personal ambition, to drive a rally car. And not just any car, Sir Chris drove Colin McRae’s World Rally title winning Subaru Impreza.

During filming for the series, Sir Chris spent a lot of time with Colin’s father Jim McRae: “I didn’t realise just how big a fan Sir Chris was,” said Jim at his Lanark home, “but he obviously followed Colin’s career in great detail and knew a lot about rallying.”

When Jim then asked if Sir Chris would like to ‘co-drive’ the Course Car on this year’s Scottish Championship event, he jumped at the chance. The event will give him an opportunity to experience rallying at a national level, but he will have a serious job to do on the day.

Jim explained: “Course Car duties at any event are vitally important. The crew has to run ahead of the competition checking out the Stages, the directions, the timing, ensuring the Marshals are in the right place and making that final decision before the serious competition gets underway.”

“We’ll both have to keep our wits about us over the weekend,” said Jim, “and it will give Sir Chris another insight into our sport. He’s looking forward to it.”

[sjabrown]

Not sure if we'll enter this year or not, but would be good to see if we can improve on 9th O/A last year.

[FordMan1]

sjabrown said:

Not sure if we'll enter this year or not, but would be good to see if we can improve on 9th O/A last year.

Be good to see you there Scuba!

[rossub]

I'm 99% sure that Chris drove a similar car to Colin's for the BBC programme and not L555 BAT itself

[FordMan1]

Ross you're right, it was Didier Auriols ex car that was used. Colin did use it for testing albeit not competitively. Apologies!

[FordMan1]

We can now confirm that British Olympic Gold Medallist, Amy Williams, will be competing at the event.

We can also confirm that we will be assisting in the launch of Colin McMaster and David Evans new book, "McRae, Just Colin".

With two British Olympians and a host of top class drivers, we hope to see some more spectators on this years stages.

[FordMan1]

For those interested, the link to spectator information is below.

http://www.coltnesscarclub.com/documents/spec%20in...

There is also a link on the website to a google maps page which shows all the stages and how to access them.

Any questions please feel free to ask or find us on Facebook and twitter at Coltness Car Club

[cupofbeans]

Thanks for the information. Planning on heading up for the first time. A lot more helpful than some other SRC events which treat it like a secret so you buy one of their programmes for the route info!

[cc_Sledge]

Looking forward to this!

[sjabrown]

Well, a late entry but I've put our entry in today.

[FordMan1]

sjabrown said:

Well, a late entry but I've put our entry in today.

Scuba, saw that and thank you for putting one in.

Can't wait for this weekend now!

All spectator info is free and on the website.

Twitter and Facebook will be updated as often as they can be from tomorrow onwards.

Lastly, we are doing a singing session with Chris Hoy, Amy Williams, Jimmy McRae, Tony Jardine, Derek Ringer, David Bogie and Euan Thorburn on the friday evening from 5 until 8 at the campus in Aberfeldy and will have copies of the New Colin McMaster (McKlein) publication for sale.

Hope to see some of you there!

[West17]

FordMan1 said:

Lastly, we are doing a singing session with Chris Hoy, Amy Williams, Jimmy McRae, Tony Jardine, Derek Ringer, David Bogie and Euan Thorburn

Cool, what songs are they doing, something from the shows?

[ian2144]

Yes, Sir Chris Hoy is a true petrolhead and a Caterham R400 owner.

[garymorgan]

Great event, plenty of action as well and the weather was brill..

Here are my pics. Some are crap. LOL

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16246404@N06/sets/721...